ODNI to Brief Major News Executives on Chinese AI Influence Operation Targeting Midterms

Briefing Set for Liberty Crossing on February 4

The Office of the Director of National Intelligence will convene a classified briefing for senior executives from major U.S. and international news outlets on February 4 at ODNI headquarters in Liberty Crossing, McLean, Virginia, according to two officials familiar with the matter. The briefing, scheduled to begin at 2 p.m., will focus on a sustained Chinese government influence operation that uses artificial intelligence to generate video, audio, and text content aimed at the 2026 congressional midterm elections, the officials said.

Attendees will include representatives from the Associated Press, Reuters, the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, CNN, and the BBC, according to a senior official, speaking on condition of anonymity because the meeting is classified. The official said ODNI has invited general counsels, standards editors, and senior security correspondents from each outlet. The meeting will include a presentation from the National Counterintelligence and Security Center and representatives from the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency.

The briefing follows a classified assessment circulated to the House and Senate Intelligence Committees on January 27, according to a former Senate Intelligence Committee staffer who has been briefed on its contents. The assessment identified a Beijing-linked campaign that has created synthetic social media personas posing as American voters in at least 11 House districts and three Senate battleground states, the former staffer said. The campaign has produced AI-generated local news articles, fabricated leaked documents, and deepfake audio clips attributed to candidates, the staffer said.

Document Describes Synthetic Personas and Platforms

The classified assessment, titled Foreign Malign Influence Threats to the 2026 U.S. Midterm Elections, names a specific operation that U.S. analysts have tracked since October 2025, the senior official said. The operation uses accounts on X, TikTok, Meta platforms, and several smaller video-sharing services to amplify divisive content on immigration, energy prices, and crime, the official said. The official declined to name the operation publicly but said the briefing will include sample content and account handles that ODNI has shared with the social media companies.

The former Senate staffer said the assessment estimates the campaign has a monthly budget between $2 million and $4 million and relies on a network of private Chinese influence-for-hire firms rather than direct government employees. The firms use generative AI tools, including some developed by U.S. technology companies, to produce content in English and Spanish, the staffer said. The content is then pushed through accounts that mimic local news outlets, community groups, and political action committees, the staffer said.

Two officials said the briefing is intended to help newsrooms identify and avoid amplifying fabricated content without violating First Amendment protections. ODNI plans to distribute a two-page unclassified fact sheet that news organizations can use to train reporters and editors, the senior official said. The fact sheet will include indicators of AI-generated material, such as mismatched lip movements in video, inconsistent shadows, and repeated phrasing across accounts, the official said.

The former staffer said the assessment names specific House districts in California, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, as well as Senate races in Arizona, Nevada, and Pennsylvania, as priority targets. The campaign has sought to exploit local controversies over school board policies, water rights, and crime statistics, often by creating fake local Facebook groups and posting fabricated police blotter items, the staffer said.

Context and What to Watch

The February 4 briefing comes amid growing tension between the intelligence community and news organizations over the handling of leaked classified material. In December 2025, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard instructed agency components to tighten controls on classified leaks, following a series of disclosures about U.S. support for foreign surveillance programs. The former Senate staffer said the briefing is partly an effort to rebuild trust with newsroom leaders before the election season intensifies.

White House officials are expected to receive a separate briefing on the same assessment on February 5, according to one of the officials familiar with the matter. The White House briefing will include options for public attribution, potential sanctions against the Chinese firms involved, and a possible executive order requiring social media platforms to label AI-generated political content, the official said. No final decisions have been made, the official added.

Congressional reaction is likely to follow quickly after the February 4 briefing. Senator Mark Warner, the Virginia Democrat who chairs the Senate Intelligence Committee, has scheduled a hearing on foreign election influence for February 10, the former staffer said. Representative Rick Crawford, the Arkansas Republican who chairs the House Intelligence Committee, is expected to request a closed briefing for his panel later in the week, the staffer said.

Watch for whether ODNI publicly attributes the operation after the briefing, whether any social media platforms announce account removals, and whether the White House moves forward with the executive order on AI-generated political content before the end of February.