内容来源：https://www.wired.com/story/super-pac-backed-by-openai-and-palantir-is-paying-tiktok-influencers-to-fear-monger-about-china/

内容总结：

社交媒体“暗钱”操弄舆论：美国AI利益集团借网红渲染“中国威胁论”

（观察者网/综合报道） 一场由匿名资金支持的舆论影响力行动正在美国社交媒体上悄然展开。该行动旨在通过拥有大量粉丝的生活方式类网红，向美国公众灌输“中国人工智能（AI）崛起是严重威胁”的观念，从而为美国AI产业争取政策优势。

据悉，这一行动由名为“Build American AI”的组织出资。该组织与一个名为“Leading the Future”的超级政治行动委员会（Super PAC）有关联，后者资金规模高达1.4亿美元，获得了包括OpenAI总裁格雷格·布罗克曼、Palantir联合创始人乔·朗斯代尔等科技界人士的支持。

第一阶段：借网红之口推广“美国制造AI”

该公关行动分为两个阶段。在第一阶段，运营方通过营销机构联系多位生活类网红，要求她们发布短视频，推广“投资美国AI”的理念。例如，拥有140万粉丝的网红梅丽莎·斯特拉勒在4月1日发布视频，声称“AI让我专注于最重要的事情，我们需要投资美国制造的AI，确保美国引领创新和就业”。尽管这些视频标注为“广告”，但并未披露出资方。

第二阶段：炮制内容直指“中国威胁”

行动的第二阶段矛头直指中国。根据曝光的信息，营销机构正以每条TikTok视频5000美元（约合3.6万元人民币）的价格，请求网红们放大“中国技术崛起是威胁”的信息。一份提供给内容创作者的样本文案写道：“我刚得知中国正努力在AI领域击败美国。如果他们成功了，可能意味着中国将获取我和孩子的个人数据，并抢走本应属于美国的工作。在AI创新竞赛中，我是美国队！”

负责执行该项目的营销机构（SM4）工作人员直言，客户的目的是“通过将中国的AI进步描绘成对美国人安全和福祉的严重风险，来潜移默化地转变公众辩论”。

专家警示：这是“极其腐蚀民主”的宣传

对此，纽约城市大学皇后学院媒体研究副教授杰米·科恩指出：“消费者根本不知道他们接收的信息是付费内容。这些网红接受来自AI行业的未公开资金，推广特定公司的信息，而公众对此一无所知。这对民主制度的腐蚀作用极其巨大。”

部分内容创作者也察觉到了异常。生态学家乔什·墨菲表示，将“泛泛的AI赞美”与“激进的‘反华’言论”结合在一起，让他感到“不对劲”。他认为，当前不受监管的AI行业“正在以牺牲一切为代价追逐贪婪”。

回应与背景

“Leading the Future”的发言人杰西·亨特辩称，该行动旨在向最广泛的受众传递“美国有责任保持AI全球领先地位”的信息，并反击所谓“暗黑资金末日论者”的误导信息。

报道指出，随着2026年美国中期选举临近，AI正成为关键议题。OpenAI和Palantir等公司的高管曾多次公开表达对“中国AI领先”的担忧，并以此为由呼吁增加投资、放松国内监管。此次网红营销行动正是该行业试图影响舆论、操纵政策走向的最新例证。

中文翻译：

4月1日，生活方式网红梅丽莎·斯特拉尔在一段Instagram视频中，伴随着轻柔的器乐背景音乐，站在一面美国国旗前摆拍。“人工智能让我能专注于真正重要的事，”她告诉自己的140万粉丝，“我们必须投资美国本土研发的人工智能，确保美国在创新和就业创造方面保持领先地位。”

斯特拉尔将这条帖子标注为广告，但并未透露付费方身份。调查发现，资金来源于“构建美国人工智能”——一个与“引领未来”相关联的“暗钱”组织。后者是一个资金规模达1亿美元的政治超级行动委员会，由与OpenAI、Palantir等公司有关联的科技界人士支持，其中部分资金直接来自这些人士。

这段视频是“构建美国人工智能”资助的一场协同影响宣传活动的一部分，该活动分两阶段在社交媒体上铺开。第一阶段侧重于与斯特拉尔这类生活方式网红合作，宣传美国人工智能产业与本土创新。斯特拉尔未回应置评请求。而当前进行的第二阶段，主题完全围绕中国展开。

营销机构正以每条TikTok视频5000美元的价格与网红洽谈合作，要求他们放大“构建美国人工智能”的论调——即中国的技术崛起应被视为威胁。据代表“构建美国人工智能”执行此活动的网红营销机构SM4的一名员工透露，其目标是借将中国人工智能发展定性为对美国民众安全与福祉的严重风险，潜移默化地扭转公众舆论。

“他们希望推动提及中国与美国，并强调‘击败中国’为何至关重要，”该员工表示。

“构建美国人工智能”向内容创作者提供的话术范本包括这样的句子：“我刚得知中国正拼命想在人工智能领域赶超美国。如果他们成功了，中国就可能获取我和孩子们的个人数据，抢走本应属于美国人的工作岗位。在这场人工智能创新竞赛中，我站美国队！”

《连线》杂志首次获悉该活动，源于本文作者受邀参与SM4的邀请。相关细节随后得到多名收到类似邀约的内容创作者证实。

生态学家乔什·墨菲在Instagram上拥有超过13万粉丝。他表示自己未回应SM4的邀约，并解释称虽然“并非反对人工智能”，但将泛泛的技术赞美与激进的反华言论结合在一起，让他感觉不妥。“人工智能绝对可以用于改善人类福祉，”墨菲说，“但我们目前所处的是个不受监管的行业，只有一群古怪的科技狂为了逐利不惜牺牲一切，这根本不是它应有的样子。”

“美国有机会保持全球人工智能创新领导者的地位，我们正通过全方位传播战略，将这一信息传递给尽可能广泛的受众，”代表“引领未来”的发言人杰西·亨特谈及该活动时表示，“暗钱末日论团体花费数百万美元向美国公众散布虚假信息，我们不会坐视不管。我们将继续强调人工智能的经济效益，驳斥不实叙事，利用一切可用手段构建推动国家监管框架所需的联盟。”

据该政治行动委员会披露，“引领未来”的支持者包括OpenAI总裁兼联合创始人格雷格·布罗克曼、风险投资家兼Palantir联合创始人乔·朗斯代尔、风险投资公司安德森·霍洛维茨以及人工智能公司Perplexity。“引领未来”称，截至目前已收到总计1.4亿美元的捐款和承诺资金，其中5100万美元可用于推进其支持人工智能的议程，截至4月时仍有此额度。新闻网站NOTUS将该组织称为“人工智能行业的巨型政治战争基金”。

一位OpenAI发言人表示，OpenAI与“引领未来”或“构建美国人工智能”无公司关联，“未向其提供任何资金或其他支持”。Palantir发言人称该公司也未向这两个组织提供资金。Perplexity拒绝置评。安德森·霍洛维茨未回应置评请求。

信息战

“引领未来”正试图在潜在的关键时刻，引导人工智能政策向有利于行业的方向发展。人工智能正成为2026年中期选举的关键议题，而行业倡导团体正投入重金，以应对公众对数据中心、能源消耗及潜在失业问题日益增长的担忧。就在本周，美国参议员伯尼·桑德斯宣扬称“人工智能可能对人类构成生存威胁”。

“构建美国人工智能”正通过与网红合作，在美国人获取时事信息的社交媒体平台上对抗关于该技术的负面叙事。皮尤研究中心近期民调显示，53%的美国成年人表示至少从社交媒体获取部分新闻，18至29岁人群中38%的人表示经常从网红处获取新闻。

但网红不受新闻职业道德标准约束，许多人并不总是披露其工作的资金来源。资金雄厚的超级政治行动委员会和“暗钱”组织正利用这一现实，将资金注入网红营销机构，后者付费让内容创作者推广特定叙事。结果，许多浏览社交动态的人可能并未意识到，自己接收的是来自企业利益的政治信息。

“消费者不知道他们接收的信息是付费内容，”纽约城市大学皇后学院媒体研究副教授杰米·科恩表示，“这些网红接受了来自[人工智能]行业的不公开资金，推广特定公司的话术，公众毫不知情。这对民主具有极强的腐蚀性。”

据SM4员工分享的示例帖子列表，TikTok和Instagram上一系列知名生活方式网红已参与“构建美国人工智能”影响活动的第一阶段。

例如，4月初，家庭与儿童体育网红梅根·林克发布Instagram视频，解释人工智能如何帮助她保持条理。“人工智能正在改变一切，我们坚持在美国本地发展它很重要，”她在画外音中说道。几乎同一时间，另一位位于弗吉尼亚州的育儿网红乌切·马德森发布视频，告诉她41.2万Instagram粉丝：“我认为投资美国人工智能很重要，这样美国才能在人工智能创新和就业创造方面引领世界。”

两位网红都将帖子标注为广告，但未披露广告客户身份，也未说明这些内容是为“构建美国人工智能”活动付费制作。林克和马德森未回应《连线》杂志的置评请求。

根据“构建美国人工智能”向网红提供的简报文件，该组织如今正寻求“超越倾向左翼的女性生活方式及家庭[内容创作者]，将重点转向政治评论员、商业/科技领袖以及男性生活方式类别的左翼网红”。

SM4员工称，其机构负责招募左翼内容创作者，而另一合作机构则负责招募右翼人才。在一次通话中，该员工表示他们在寻找能明确谈论中国及“在人工智能竞赛中保护美国人”必要性的网红。简报文件指导潜在内容创作者在“给孩子做早餐”等其他活动时，讨论美国人工智能的重要性。

提供给网红的话术，与OpenAI和Palantir等公司长期以来的论点如出一辙——这些公司曾将中国人工智能的进步作为增加美国人工智能投资、抵制国内更严格技术监管的理由。“要么我们成为主导者，要么中国成为主导者，最终规则将截然不同——取决于谁赢，”Palantir首席执行官亚历克斯·卡普去年11月在接受《Axios新闻秀》采访时表示。“我担心中国，”OpenAI首席执行官萨姆·奥尔特曼去年对一群记者说。

科技公司及其高管也一再辩称，推动美国人工智能发展对捍卫民主至关重要。“当人们担心监控时，显然存在巨大危险，”卡普去年在《Axios新闻秀》上表示，“但要知道，如果美国不占据领先地位，你将拥有的权利会少得多。”在阐述公司国家安全观点的博客文章中，OpenAI表示相信“民主国家应继续在人工智能发展中发挥引领作用，以自由、公平和尊重人权等价值观为指导”。

但科恩指出，试图通过传播未公开的政治信息来扭曲信息生态系统，与维护民主理想并不完全一致。“仅仅标注‘合作伙伴’或‘#广告’不足以说明这些网红呈现的信息背后有何意图，”他说，“他们没有披露背后的议程。这纯粹是宣传。”

这场网红活动是“构建美国人工智能”资助的众多旨在塑造公众技术讨论的努力之一。该组织还在X平台上投放广告，其信息如“人工智能领导力即国家安全”叠加在美国国旗图案上。“美国必须引领，否则我们的对手将取而代之。”

本文是杨泽义与路易丝·马萨基斯“中国制造”新闻通讯的一部分。在此处阅读往期通讯。

英文来源：

In an Instagram video posted on April 1, lifestyle influencer Melissa Strahle poses outdoors before an American flag as soft instrumental music plays. “AI lets me focus on what matters most,” she tells her 1.4 million followers. “We need to invest in American-made AI to ensure America leads the way in innovation and job creation.”
Strahle labeled the post an advertisement, but she didn’t disclose what organization had paid for it. It turns out the funding came from Build American AI, a dark-money group tied to Leading the Future, a $100 million super PAC supported by, and in some cases directly funded by, tech figures affiliated with companies like OpenAI and Palantir.
The video is part of a coordinated influence campaign that Build American AI is funding, which is being rolled out on social media in two phases. The first focused on working with lifestyle influencers like Strahle, who did not respond to a request for comment, to promote the US artificial intelligence industry and American innovation. But the second and current phase of the campaign is all about China.
Marketing agencies are pitching influencers deals such as $5,000 per TikTok video to amplify Build American AI’s messaging about how China’s technological rise should be seen as a threat. The goal, according to a staffer from SM4, the influencer marketing agency running the campaign on behalf of Build American AI, is to subtly shift public debate by framing China’s AI advancement as a serious risk to the safety and well-being of Americans.
“They want a push to mention China and America and why beating China is so important,” says the staffer.
Sample messaging provided by Build American AI to content creators includes lines like “I just learned that China is trying really hard to beat the US in AI. If they do, it could mean that China gets personal data from me and my kids, and take jobs that should be here in the US In the AI innovation race, I’m Team USA!!!”
WIRED first learned about the campaign after this article’s author was invited by SM4 to participate. The details were later confirmed by several other content creators who received similar outreach.
Josh Murphy, an ecologist with over 130,000 followers on Instagram who says he did not respond to SM4’s offer, explains that while he’s “not necessarily against AI,” combining generic praise for the technology with aggressive anti-China messaging felt off to him. “AI can absolutely be utilized for the betterment of humanity,” Murphy says, “but this unregulated industry that we have right now, where it’s just wacky tech bros that are pursuing greed at the expense of everything else, is just not what it’s supposed to be.”
“The United States has an opportunity to remain the global leader in AI innovation, and we’re taking that message to the broadest possible audience through an all-of-the-above communications strategy,” Jesse Hunt, a spokesperson representing Leading the Future, said of the campaign. “Dark money doomer groups have spent millions spreading misinformation to the American public, and we won’t let it go unchallenged. We’ll continue to highlight AI’s economic benefits, counter false narratives, and build the coalition needed to advance a national regulatory framework using every tool at our disposal.”
Supporters of Leading the Future include OpenAI president and cofounder Greg Brockman, venture capitalist and Palantir cofounder Joe Lonsdale, venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, and AI company Perplexity, according to the PAC. Leading the Future says it has received $140 million in total contributions and commitments, with $51 million available to spend to push its pro-AI agenda as of April. The news site NOTUS called the group a “massive political war chest for the AI industry.”
An OpenAI spokesperson says that OpenAI has no corporate affiliation with Leading the Future or Build American AI and has “not provided funding or any other support to them.” A spokesperson for Palantir says the company has also not contributed to either group. Perplexity declined to comment. Andreessen Horowitz did not respond to a request for comment.
Information Wars
Leading the Future is trying to steer AI policy in the industry’s favor at a potentially pivotal moment. AI is shaping up to be a key issue in the 2026 midterms, and groups advocating for the industry are spending heavily to push back on growing public concerns about issues like data centers, energy use, and potential job displacement. Just this week, US senator Bernie Sanders promoted the claim that “AI could pose an existential threat to humanity.”
Build American AI is trying to combat negative narratives about the technology by working with influencers on the platforms where Americans increasingly learn about current events. Fifty-three percent of US adults say they get at least some of their news from social media, and 38 percent of people aged 18 to 29 report regularly consuming news from influencers, according to recent polling by Pew Research Center.
But influencers are not bound by journalistic ethical standards, and many do not always disclose who is funding their work. Well-funded super PACs and dark-money groups have capitalized on that reality by funneling cash into influencer marketing agencies that pay content creators to promote specific narratives. As a result, many people scrolling their social feeds are likely unaware that they’re absorbing political messaging from corporate interests.
“Consumers don’t know when the information they’re receiving is paid for,” says Jamie Cohen, associate professor of media studies at Queens College, CUNY. “These influencers are accepting undisclosed money from the [AI] industry, they’re promoting the messaging of specific companies, and the public has no idea. It is extremely corrosive to democracy.”
A slew of high-profile lifestyle influencers across TikTok and Instagram have taken part in phase one of Build American AI’s influence campaign, according to a list of example posts shared by the staffer from SM4.
In early April, for example, Megan Linke, a family and kids sports influencer, posted an Instagram video explaining how AI helps her stay organized. “AI is changing everything, and it’s important we keep building it here in the US,” she says in the voice-over. Around the same time, Uche Madson, another motherhood influencer based in Virginia, posted a video telling her 412,000 Instagram followers that she thinks “it’s important we invest in American AI so America leads the way in AI innovation and job creation.”
Both influencers labeled the posts as advertisements but did not disclose who the advertisements were for or that they had been paid for as part of a campaign for Build American AI. Linke and Madson did not respond to requests for comment from WIRED.
According to a briefing document that Build American AI provided to influencers, the organization is now seeking to “extend beyond left-leaning female lifestyle and family [content creators] to focus on left-leaning influencers who are political commentators, business/tech leaders, and male lifestyle influencers.”
The SM4 staffer claims their agency is tasked with recruiting left-wing content creators, while a partner agency is focused on recruiting right-wing talent.On a call, the staffer said they were seeking influencers who could speak explicitly about China and the need to “protect Americans in the AI race.” The briefing document instructs prospective content creators to discuss the importance of American AI while doing other activities such as "making breakfast for the kids."
The rhetoric provided to influencers echoes long-standing talking points from companies like OpenAI and Palantir, which have pointed to China’s AI advances as a reason to boost US AI investment and resist tighter domestic regulations on the technology. “We are going to be the dominant player, or China is going to be the dominant player, and there will just be very different rules depending on who wins,” Palantir CEO Alex Karp said on The Axios Show in November. “I’m worried about China,” Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI, told a group of reporters last year.
Tech companies and their executives have also repeatedly argued that advancing American AI is essential to safeguarding democracy. “When people are worried about surveillance, of course, there are huge dangers there,” Karp said last year on The Axios Show, “but you know, you will have far fewer rights if America’s not in the lead.” In a blog post outlining the company’s views on national security, OpenAI said it believes “democracies should continue to take the lead in AI development, guided by values like freedom, fairness, and respect for human rights.”
But Cohen points out that attempting to warp the information ecosystem by spreading undisclosed political messaging is not exactly in line with upholding democratic ideals. “A partnership label or ‘hashtag ad’ is not enough to explain what the agenda is behind the information these influencers are presenting,” he says. “They’re not disclosing the agenda underneath it. This is literally propaganda.”
The influencer campaign is one of a number of efforts funded by Build American AI designed to shape public discourse about the technology. The organization has also been running advertisements on X with messaging such as “AI leadership is national security” overlaid atop an American flag. “The US must lead or our adversaries will.”
This is an edition of Zeyi Yang and Louise Matsakis’ Made in China newsletter. Read previous newsletters here.