Dressed in beachwear or military fatigues, these American blondes praise President Donald Trump or viciously attack his rivals. These influencers are actually AI-generated and flood social media with inflammatory political messages as the US midterm elections approach.

"Where have all my Maga friends gone? If you voted for Trump, say so loud and clear in the comments and you'll gain a new subscriber from Texas," says an avatar with blond hair covered by a red Maga (Make America Great Again) cap.

"Trump is the future of America," reads the text of another AI video that shows a young woman in beach attire.

AFP was unable to determine who was behind these accounts, or whether it was a coordinated influence operation in view of the mid-term elections.

Earlier this year, Donald Trump himself shared on his Truth Social platform an AI-generated avatar with silver-blonde hair that unfoundedly accused California's Democratic governor Gavin Newsom of corruption.

- "Shaping public opinion" -

In recent months, American media outlets have identified hundreds of pro-Trump influencers generated by artificial intelligence, including young men and women in military uniforms or disguised as immigration officials, speaking out on current issues such as abortion or the conflict with Iran.

Purdue University’s Governance and Responsible AI Lab (GRAIL) has also detected a wave of such accounts on TikTok, Instagram and Facebook.

According to Andrew Yoon of the NGO CivAI, "the growing wave of political influencers using AI in the run-up to the 2026 elections gives a glimpse of a future" where such content "could be used to shape public opinion."

And this type of content is "increasingly difficult to detect, especially when produced by sophisticated operators," he continues.

"As AI agents gain autonomy over long periods of time, we expect influence operations to exploit them and become even more personalized and difficult to control," Andrew Yoon explains.

For example, an Instagram influencer featuring a realistic female soldier posing alongside Trump amassed nearly a million followers before the account was suspended.

- "Business objectives" -

Disinformation typically sees a resurgence in the run-up to elections, fueled by automated bots, trolls, and fake accounts that amplify false information and introduce it into political discourse.

And artificial intelligence has increased the risk of manipulation.

Researchers also warn against "deepfakes" used to target world leaders, including French President Emmanuel Macron and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. These can influence voter turnout and manipulate geopolitical events.

Pro-Trump influencers also demonstrate that this technology makes it possible to associate very realistic human faces with disinformation content, accompanying them with convincing voices and arguments, thus creating the illusion of a legitimate political movement.

While promoting the American president, some AI-powered influencers also seem to want to attract followers and promote commercial products.

For example, an influencer's Instagram account links to a commercial site offering Maga artwork, which can cost up to $500.

"Many of them are motivated by commercial objectives and use politics as a means rather than an end," explains Daniel Schiff, a lecturer at Purdue University and co-director of GRAIL.

"They often exploit emotionally charged and politically charged content, as well as other intimate or provocative content, in order to attract subscribers, and then redirect them to external sources, for example to buy products."