Nonprofit Pays Influencers to Cast China AI as US Threat
Lifestyle influencer Melissa Strahle shared an Instagram video on April 1. She stood outside with an American flag behind her while soft music played. Strahle told her 1.4 million followers that AI helps her focus on key things. She added that the US must invest in homegrown AI to lead in innovation and jobs. Strahle marked the post as an ad. However, she did not say which group paid for it. Build American AI provided the funding. This group links to Leading the Future, a $100 million super PAC backed by tech leaders from firms like OpenAI and Palantir.
Campaign Phases and Tactics
The effort forms a coordinated push on social media in two stages. Phase one teamed up with lifestyle influencers like Strahle, who did not reply to comment requests. Those posts pushed US AI and innovation. Phase two, now active, centers on China.
Marketing firms offer influencers $5,000 for each TikTok video to spread Build American AI messages. They frame China's tech growth as a danger to American safety and welfare. A staffer from SM4, the agency handling the work for Build American AI, said the aim is to quietly change public views. The staffer noted they want mentions of China and America, stressing why the US must win.
Build American AI gives creators sample lines. One example reads: "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 learned of the campaign when its author got an invite from SM4 to join. Other creators confirmed the outreach.
Josh Murphy, an ecologist with more than 130,000 Instagram followers, got an offer from SM4 but ignored it. He said he supports AI for human good but dislikes mixing praise with strong anti-China lines. Murphy called the current AI field unregulated, driven by tech figures chasing profit over all else.
Group Statements and Backers
Jesse Hunt, a spokesperson for Leading the Future, described the campaign. He said the US can stay the world AI leader. They reach the widest audience with a full communications plan. Hunt added that dark money doomer groups spread lies with millions spent. Leading the Future counters that, highlights AI economic gains, fights bad stories, and builds support for national AI rules using all tools.
Leading the Future backers include OpenAI president and cofounder Greg Brockman, Palantir cofounder and venture capitalist Joe Lonsdale, Andreessen Horowitz, and AI firm Perplexity. The PAC reports $140 million in total contributions and pledges, with $51 million ready to spend on pro-AI efforts as of April. NOTUS labeled it a huge political fund for AI.
OpenAI states it has no tie to Leading the Future or Build American AI. The firm gave no money or other aid. Palantir says it contributed nothing to either. Perplexity offered no comment. Andreessen Horowitz did not reply.
Policy Battles and Influencer Role
Leading the Future shapes AI rules to favor industry at a key time. AI will matter in 2026 midterms. Pro-AI groups spend big against worries over data centers, energy, and job losses. Senator Bernie Sanders said this week that AI might threaten humanity's existence.
Build American AI fights bad AI views via influencers on news sources for many. Pew Research Center polls show 53 percent of US adults get some news from social media. Among 18- to 29-year-olds, 38 percent often get news from influencers.
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Influencers skip news ethics and often hide funders. Super PACs and dark-money outfits pay agencies to get creators pushing set stories. Viewers miss that corporate cash drives the posts.
Jamie Cohen, media studies professor at Queens College, CUNY, said people do not know when info comes from paid sources. Influencers take hidden AI industry money, push firm messages, and the public stays in the dark. Cohen called it harmful to democracy.
More Influencer Examples
Many top lifestyle influencers joined phase one, per SM4 staffer examples. In early April, Megan Linke, a family and kids sports creator, posted an Instagram video on AI organization help. She said in voice-over that AI changes all and the US must build it domestically. Around then, Virginia-based motherhood influencer Uche Madson told her 412,000 Instagram followers to invest in American AI for leadership in innovation and jobs.
Both marked posts as ads but hid the payer or Build American AI link. Linke and Madson did not comment to WIRED.
A Build American AI document to influencers says they now target left-leaning political commentators, business and tech leaders, and male lifestyle creators beyond women and family ones. SM4 handles left-wing recruits; a partner gets right-wing. The staffer said on a call they seek those who discuss China and protecting Americans in the AI race. Creators should talk US AI importance while doing daily tasks like making kids breakfast.
Echoes of Tech Leaders
The lines match points from OpenAI and Palantir. They cite China AI gains to urge more US spending and less home rules. Palantir CEO Alex Karp said on The Axios Show in November that either the US or China will dominate AI with different rules based on the winner. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman told reporters last year he worries about China.
Tech firms say US AI protects democracy. Karp noted on The Axios Show last year that surveillance risks exist but rights shrink more if America lags. OpenAI's national security blog post says democracies must lead AI with values like freedom, fairness, and human rights.
Cohen says hidden political pushes do not match democracy goals. A label or hashtag ad fails to show the full agenda. Creators hide the real aim. He called it propaganda.
Build American AI funds other efforts too. They run X ads with lines like "AI leadership is national security" over a US flag. Another says "The US must lead or our adversaries will."