Russia is starting to try to influence US presidential race, intelligence official says

U.S. intelligence officials report that Russia has begun targeted influence operations aimed at the 2024 U.S. presidential election—favoring a particular candidate—using social media amplification, outsourced commercial firms, encrypted messaging, and bot networks; authorities have also seized a Russian AI bot farm. The briefing notes China is currently unlikely to directly influence the presidential race but may monitor and collect social media data, while Iran is characterized as a disruptive actor engaging in deceptive online activism.