The Treasury said the Cognitive Design Production Center planned influence operations since at least 2023 designed to incite tensions among the electorate on behalf of the IRGC.
The Treasury accused the Moscow-based Center for Geopolitical Expertise (CGE) of circulating disinformation about candidates in the election as well as directing and subsidizing the creation of deepfakes.
The Treasury said CGE also manipulated a video to produce “baseless accusations concerning a 2024 vice presidential candidate.” It did not specify which candidate was targeted.
The Moscow-based center, at the direction of the GRU, used generative AI tools to quickly create disinformation distributed across a network of websites that were designed to look like legitimate news outlets, the Treasury said.
It accused the GRU of providing financial support to CGE and a network of US-based facilitators in order to build and maintain its AI support server and maintain a network of at least 100 websites used in its disinformation operations.
CGE’s director was also hit with sanctions in Tuesday’s action.
An annual US threat assessment released in October said the United States sees a growing threat of Russia, Iran and China attempting to influence the elections, including by using artificial intelligence to disseminate fake or divisive information.
