According to Vanderbilt University, documents have been found that have triggered DEF CON, revealing that a Chinese company is building a database of American politicians and influencers to share propaganda. The company in question is GoLaxy, accused of using generative artificial intelligence to create social media profiles and to map existing ones to influence public opinion. According to statements made by Professor Brett Goldstein of Vanderbilt to The Register, the company used a system called DeepSeek, but when the documents were published, the website disappeared.
Paul Nakasone, former head of the NSA, stated at DEF CON in Las Vegas that China and its use of AI represent the next generation of ‘gray zone’ conflicts, considering it a matter of National Security. Although the company defines itself as a social media mapping agency, it is known to have strong ties with the Ministry of State Security of China. However, documents show how they intended to sell a system called Smart Propaganda System or ‘GoPro’, through which they used AI content to influence public opinion.
Although Vanderbilt is still pending 99% of the process of the documents – which are in Mandarin – investigators can already affirm that the company is directing its attention to America, mainly to politicians and high-profile individuals. The New York Times quoted statements from GoLaxy, who deny the accusations and speak of disinformation by the media, claiming that their products are based on open-source data.
Discovery of Vanderbilt University
Vanderbilt University has alerted the United States government about a possible National Security issue that could require activating DEF CON. This concerns the discovery of documents accusing a Chinese company of making “fraudulent” use of artificial intelligence. Specifically, it is accused of building a database to share propaganda, with data from American politicians and influencers.
What is GoLaxy being accused of?
The company mentioned in the documents is GoLaxy. They demonstrate how the Chinese company used artificial intelligence to generate profiles on social media (bots), and also mapped the already existing ones. What was the objective? To influence public opinion. Although GoLaxy has claimed to operate in Taiwan and Hong Kong in order to influence the public’s opinion about Beijing’s policies, it does not want its shift towards the United States to be known, and has tried to erase any trace.
However, Professor Brett Goldstein from Vanderbilt stated to The Register, ‘Some of the documents refer to the company that uses DeepSeek in this. But once we published the documents, they started removing references to the technology from [the site] very quickly.’
Safety might be in jeopardy
The objective in these cases has always been Russia, which is why the news has caught everyone off guard. Paul Nakasone, former head of the NSA, stated at a DEF CON hacking conference in Las Vegas, “We have always considered the Russians to be the best at information operations impacting the United States – China was actually doing quite well there”. He added, “They were not as effective at being able to understand the message, understand the issues, perhaps even understand the language that they are using. But I see this as the next generation of what we will see in the gray zone conflict in the future”.
GoLaxy responds to the accusations
Although the company markets itself as a social media mapping agency and only operates in the Chinese market, it is well known that there are relationships between the company and the Ministry of State Security of China. Furthermore, documents clearly show that it presented itself as a company capable of shaping public opinion through a system called Smart Propaganda System or ‘GoPro’. The documents state the following: ‘it already has the ability to be aware of political situations, to target in real-time, to create high-quality content, and to conduct rapid counterattacks.
It has already produced certain political effects in relevant state departments.’ In response to The Register’s communication, GoLaxy did not want to make any statement. However, it explained to the New York Times that media claims were due to a significant amount of misinformation and that its products were based on open-source data. Do you think this will strain the relations between both countries?