In a May 9, 2024 report, Recorded Future identified that inauthentic websites owned and operated by a network they dubbed CopyCop were spreading AI-generated disinformation and amplifying pro-Russian narratives surrounding the United States, Russia, Ukraine, and Israel, taking advantage of existing domestic cleavages and eroding trust in Western institutions. Using AI to plagiarize, translate, and edit content from mainstream media outlets, CopyCop tailored articles to specific audiences, primarily in the United States, the United Kingdom and France, and published over 19,000 articles per month. Some of these sites imitated well-established outlets like the BBC.

Using technical, behavioral, and contextual evidence, Recorded Future assessed that CopyCop was “likely aligned with the Russian government”. First, CopyCop domains were hosted on Russian infrastructure and had overlapping TLS certificates, implying they belonged to a single network. CopyCop had this kind of strong infrastructure ties to DCWeekly, a known disinformation outlet led by a US citizen who fled to Russia in 2016. Second, content published via the network was amplified by known Russian overt and covert influence assets, such as the Foundation to Battle Injustice financed by oligarch Yevgeny Prigozhin. CopyCop also consistently cited Russian state media outlets. The narratives represented in its articles reflected Russian objectives of undermining Western domestic and foreign policy, spurring distrust in and between governments, and weakening support for Ukraine. The network’s tactics, techniques and procedures also showed strong similarities to other known Russian state-sponsored networks conducting influence operations, such as Doppelgänger.