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𝗨𝗻𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗲𝘀 — 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝗳𝗹𝘂𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗻𝗲𝘁𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗔𝗜, 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝘃𝗼𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀 A newly exposed US political influence network appears to have been designed around a different target from most election propaganda. Its primary audience was not necessarily the voter reading a website, but the automated systems that search the web on behalf of AI chatbots. Threat-intelligence company VisionHeight initially identified 37 anonymous websites presenting themselves as state or local news organisations, opinion publications and national issue sites. By 15 October, the company's co-founder and chief technology officer, Nitsan Daniel, told CyberScoop that the investigation had expanded the observed footprint to 𝗮𝘁 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝟭𝟰 𝗨𝗦 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝟰𝟲𝟬 𝗽𝗮𝗴𝗲𝘀. The states identified were Arizona, Colorado, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Mississippi, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia and Wisconsin. The infrastructure shows unusually strong signs of coordination. All 37 domains in the original dataset were registered during a single evening; 36 were registered within approximately eight minutes. On 30 September alone, the network published roughly 𝟭𝟬𝟬,𝟬𝟬𝟬 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗱𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗰𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗲-𝗿𝗲𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗮𝗹 using common templates and four recurring layouts. VisionHeight assesses that the scale and production pattern strongly suggest extensive automation, although that does not by itself prove which generative-AI system, if any, produced the text. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗺𝗮𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘃𝗮𝗹. Candidate profiles can run to about 5,000 words, accompanied by similarly long voter guides containing 50 to 63 questions phrased in the style of queries someone might put to an AI assistant. Across the network, formulations such as a candidate being “the stronger choice” were repeated hundreds of times. One profile contained the phrase 34 times. In several voter guides examined by VisionHeight, the favoured candidate was named more than 110 times while an opponent appeared only six or seven times. The websites were also configured to make themselves unusually accessible to AI. Their crawler instructions explicitly welcomed 17 automated systems associated with companies including OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, Perplexity, Meta, Amazon and Apple. Some pages were marked in machine-readable metadata as news articles, while apparently separate publications cited one another. The result is a manufactured ecosystem in which several apparently independent local sources can reinforce the same conclusion. That is the central technique. 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗶𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗹𝘆 𝗰𝗹𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗰 𝗔𝗜 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴-𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗮 𝗽𝗼𝗶𝘀𝗼𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴. The more immediate objective appears to be manipulation of the retrieval and search layer: place highly optimised material online, make it easy for automated crawlers to index, create the appearance of corroboration, and increase the chance that an AI assistant retrieves those pages when answering a political question. There is evidence that the network crossed that boundary. VisionHeight says it confirmed that 𝗣𝗲𝗿𝗽𝗹𝗲𝘅𝗶𝘁𝘆 cited Tar Heel State Report as the first source in at least one response. Separately, one of the network's candidate pages reached third place in a Google search six days after publication, above Ballotpedia for the tested query. These findings demonstrate that the material can enter AI-relevant search and retrieval pipelines. They do 𝗻𝗼𝘁 demonstrate that the operation changed anyone's vote, nor establish how frequently major chatbots have used the network. The timing matters because AI has become part of the election-information environment. An AAPC Foundation survey of 1,568 likely US voters found that about one in five planned to use AI to investigate a race on their ballot, while 38 per cent reported having received election information through an AI-generated search summary. A separate NewsGuard audit found that leading chatbots frequently cited partisan websites disguised as local journalism without clearly identifying their political affiliations. The newly identified network appears to take that existing vulnerability one step further by constructing content specifically around the way machines search and summarise information. 𝗪𝗵𝗼 𝗶𝘀 𝗯𝗲𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝗶𝘁? 𝗔𝘁 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗻𝘁, 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝗻𝗼 𝗱𝗲𝗳𝗲𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝘀𝘄𝗲𝗿. VisionHeight has not attributed the operation to any individual, campaign, company, political party or foreign government. No confirmed name of an operator has been publicly established. Nitsan Daniel is the researcher who helped expose the network, not a person connected to its operation. Some components have explicitly partisan branding. VisionHeight's indicators include domains such as Affordability Democrats, Democratic Women House, Public Safety Democrats and Republican Incumbent Watch, while the live Affordability Democrats site promotes Democratic candidates across 11 competitive House races. That provides evidence about the political direction of some of the published material, but it does 𝗻𝗼𝘁 establish who commissioned, financed or operated the infrastructure, and it would be unjustified to attribute it to the Democratic Party or any particular campaign. The network also appears broader than congressional politics. The live Tar Heel State Report has carried material on county commission and judicial contests, illustrating why the method may be particularly effective in down-ballot races where established local reporting is thin. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗳𝗮𝗰𝗲. Propaganda no longer has to persuade a human being directly. It can instead attempt to shape the information environment from which an apparently neutral machine constructs its answer. 𝗦𝗧𝗔𝗧𝗨𝗦: Active / newly exposed and expanding as of 15–16 October 2026. 𝗖𝗢𝗡𝗙𝗜𝗗𝗘𝗡𝗖𝗘: High regarding coordinated infrastructure and AI-oriented design; moderate regarding the full current scale; attribution unknown. 𝗦𝗢𝗨𝗥𝗖𝗘𝗦 VisionHeight — primary investigation, “Someone Is Manipulating Your AI to Swing Your Vote” https://www.visionheight.com/resources/someone-is-manipulating-your-ai-to-swing-your-vote CyberScoop — Derek B. Johnson, 15 October 2026 https://cyberscoop.com/ai-chatbots-election-influence-hyperlocal-networks/ Tar Heel State Report — live network site used for OSINT verification https://tarheelstatereport.com/ Affordability Democrats — live network site https://affordabilitydemocrats.com/ AAPC Foundation — 2026 AI Voter Study https://theaapc.org/release-foundation-research/ NPR — reporting on voters using AI chatbots for the 2026 midterms https://www.wusf.org/2026-10-05/people-are-asking-chatgpt-to-help-them-decide-how-to-vote-in-the-midterms NewsGuard — “Pink Slime Is Infecting AI Chatbots Ahead of the Midterms” https://www.newsguardtech.com/press/pink-slime-is-infecting-ai-chatbots-ahead-of-the-midterms/ 𝗞𝗘𝗬𝗪𝗢𝗥𝗗𝗦 #Disinformed #Disinformation #Propaganda #InfluenceOperations #AI #ArtificialIntelligence #AIChatbots #ElectionSecurity #USMidterms #USElections #InformationWarfare #CognitiveWarfare #OSINT #ThreatIntelligence #CyberSecurity #DataPoisoning #RetrievalManipulation #SearchManipulation #GenerativeAI #LLM #AIManipulation #PoliticalInfluence #FakeNews #LocalNews #PinkSlime #Perplexity #ElectionIntegrity #InformationIntegrity #DigitalPropaganda #AIsecurity

Jefimova and Salu are participating in swimming competitions taking place in Walnut, USA, where the competition includes teams from Indiana and Stanford universities, and both Estonian women have achieved remarkable results at the beginning of the season. #ujumine #ülikoolid #spordivõistlus (translated)

Tymek Kucharczyk wrote that he did not expect this year that the five-time IndyCar champion would be a reference point. He added that although some believed he had already finished his career in racing cars, thanks to Mubi's support, he was set to return on Friday for the Indy NXT tests at the Indianapolis track. #IndyCar #wyścigi #motorsport (translated)

The Estonian government has approved a draft bill that requires health centers to find a replacement within three months when a family doctor leaves, and sets limits on the number of patients on a family doctor's list to distribute the workload more evenly among doctors. #Korvpall #TyreseHaliburton #IndianaPacers (translated)

A Polish patriot wrote that Pawel Edmund Strzelecki discovered gold in Australia and that his greatest achievement was saving over 200 thousand Irish children from dying of hunger. He called him the Polish Indiana Jones, a traveler who embarrassed the British Empire, and a hero of Poland and another state. According to the author, Strzelecki traveled alone across six continents, discovered Australian coal and oil, and also conquered and named Mount Kosciuszko, the highest peak in Australia. The Polish patriot also described him as one of the most prominent scientific researchers of his time and the first Pole to circumnavigate the globe. He recalled that Strzelecki died on October 6, 1873, and called for his memory to be restored. #Historia #Podróże #Polska (translated)

"This man is a hero. Captain Smit Machchhar, an Indian national commander of Flydubai flight 1073, reacted after being stabbed in the cockpit. Despite being seriously injured, he managed to unlock the cockpit door." https://t.co/zbT43DGg61 #Eroe #Volo #SicurezzaAerea #IN (translated)

As a heroic pilot of Indian origin saved almost 200 passengers from FlyDubai. The FlyDubai pilot Smit Machchhar, of Indian origin, has been identified by the Israeli press as the hero of a flight bound for Tel Aviv carrying almost 200 passengers. According to reports, Machchhar resisted a sudden attack from his co-pilot from Oman, preventing him from crashing the plane in what could have been a "second September 11." After the plane was diverted to Tabuk, passengers spoke about the suffering they experienced, explaining that both Machchhar and the other pilot were injured after the incident. Both were taken to the hospital, and the assailant was arrested by Saudi Arabian police. According to his LinkedIn profile, Machchhar spent eleven years at SpiceJet, working as a senior commander and later as a line instructor captain. In June 2022, he moved to FlyDubai as a captain, having accumulated almost 10,000 flight hours. Although the exact details of the incident have not yet been disclosed by the authorities, passengers stated that they had intervened to subdue the assailant. After that, two off-duty pilots on board took control of the aircraft and landed it safely. #Herói #Aviação #SegurançaAérea (translated)

It is unlikely that GTA 6 will be able to compete at The Game Awards this year. Alanah Pearce, former writer at Santa Monica Studio, points out that due to dates, the game will likely fall outside the eligibility period. Usually, the cutoff is typically in the first days of November. In previous years, games like Cyberpunk 2077, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, and Indiana Jones were unable to be nominated that same year for releasing too late. The big question is whether Geoff Keighley will make an exception for GTA 6 and extend the deadline by a few weeks. Given the magnitude of the release, it wouldn't be surprising if it ends up happening. #GTA6 #TheGameAwards #Videojuegos (translated)

NFL-i hooaja esimesel pühapäeval skooriti rekordiliselt palju punkte, kus Chicago Bears alistas Carolina Panthersi 59:37 ning samas toimusid mitmed teised põnevad mängud, sealhulgas Baltimore Ravens'i võit Indianapolis Coltsi üle 41:23 ja Buffalo Bills'i napilt võit Houston Texans'i üle 36:31. #NFL #AmeerikaJalgpall #ChicagoBears

Indiana Ülikooli neuroteadlane Tom James väidab, et traditsiooniline taju – mõtle – tegutse mudel ei peegelda täpselt aju otsustusprotsesse, vaid paneb kahtluse alla meie arusaamise vabadest valikutest ja vastutusest, pakkudes välja teistsuguse vaate, kus otsused ja tegevused sulavad kokku ja käsitletavad mõisted, nagu tahe ja kaalutlus, saavad uued tähendused. #vabatahte #neuroteadus #otsustamine

Lucia Morselli, ex presidente di ArcelorMittal Italia, è indagata dalla Procura di Milano per bancarotta fraudolenta nell'ambito di un'inchiesta che accusa il management di manovre volte a indebolire l'Ilva a favore della multinazionale franco-indiana, con segnalazioni derivate da una relazione dei commissari straordinari e richieste di risarcimento danni da 7 miliardi di euro. #Ilva #BancarottaFraudolenta #ArcelorMittal