Extremists Harness AI Voice Cloning to Amplify Propaganda Reach
Extremists across ideological spectrums are deploying artificial intelligence voice cloning technology to enhance their propaganda, recreating the voices of influential figures to disseminate messages more convincingly. Neo-Nazi groups have utilized tools like ElevenLabs to clone Adolf Hitler’s voice from archival Third Reich speeches, generating English-language versions that have accumulated tens of millions of streams on platforms including X, Instagram, and TikTok.
Jihadist organizations, such as those affiliated with the Islamic State, employ AI for text-to-speech conversions of official publications, transforming static text into dynamic multimedia narratives shared on encrypted networks. This approach allows for seamless multilingual translations, preserving the original tone, emotion, and ideological intensity that previous machine translation methods could not achieve.
Accelerationist neo-Nazi factions produced an audiobook version of the insurgency manual “Siege” by James Mason in late November 2025, using a custom AI voice model to recreate every newsletter and most attached newspaper clippings as in the original publications. A prominent neo-Nazi influencer on X and Telegram explained the process, stating, “Using a custom voice model of Mason, I re-created every newsletter and most of the attached newspaper clippings as in the original published newsletters.” The influencer highlighted the audiobook’s impact, noting how hearing Mason’s predictions from the pre-internet era resonates with contemporary audiences and bolsters recruitment efforts. “Siege” holds cult status within extreme right-wing circles, promoting lone actor violence and serving as required reading in groups that endorse terrorism, which led to an FBI investigation in 2020 arresting over a dozen members of one such organization on terrorism-related charges.
Islamic State supporters have integrated AI voice cloning to revive the influence of figures like Anwar al-Awlaki, whose original voice was instrumental in al-Qaeda recruitment before his death in 2011. In October 2025, pro-Islamic State media on Rocket.Chat shared a video featuring Japanese subtitling, where a user commented on the challenges of translation: “Japanese would be an extremely hard language to translate from its original state to English while keeping its eloquence.” The user added, “It should be known that I do not use artificial intelligence for any related media, with some exceptions regarding audio,” indicating selective adoption of AI for audio elements. This evolution enables extremists to bypass human translators, accelerating the production of localized content that embeds extremist narratives within formats mimicking popular entertainment to evade platform moderation.
Experts warn that AI’s role in extremism represents a significant escalation in digital strategies. Lucas Webber, senior threat intelligence analyst at Tech Against Terrorism and research fellow at the Soufan Center, observed, “The adoption of AI-enabled translation by terrorists and extremists marks a significant evolution in digital propaganda strategies.” Joshua Fisher-Birch, a terrorism analyst at the Counter Extremism Project, emphasized the audiobook’s notoriety due to “Siege’s” promotion of violence. Extremists began experimenting with generative AI tools like ChatGPT as early as 2023 for creating imagery, planning activities, and conducting research, setting the stage for more advanced applications. As AI technology becomes more accessible, these groups can produce high-fidelity propaganda at scale, potentially increasing their ability to radicalize individuals globally without substantial resources.
The proliferation of AI voice cloning poses challenges for counterterrorism efforts, as it blurs the line between authentic and fabricated content. Platforms struggle to detect and remove such material, allowing it to spread rapidly before intervention. Governments and tech companies are urged to develop detection mechanisms, but the pace of AI advancement outstrips current regulatory frameworks. This trend underscores the dual-use nature of generative AI, where tools designed for benign purposes enable malicious actors to supercharge their outreach and sustain ideological movements.
