Photo via Semafor

AI is reshaping high-stakes elections around the world

Read the original at Semafor ↗
Cite

Ruberry, B. (2026, October 22). AI is reshaping high-stakes elections around the world. Semafor. https://www.semafor.com/article/10/22/2026/ai-is-reshaping-high-stakes-elections-around-the-world

Dated from the outlet's own feed. Check the original for its byline.

Semafor · collected 2026-10-22 · by Brendan Ruberry

Quick Summary

Partisan groups are using artificial intelligence to spread misleading information in key elections in Brazil, Israel, and the United States. Cybersecurity companies have detected thousands of fake websites designed to appear as legitimate local news outlets but actually target AI systems rather than voters directly. While efforts to combat deepfakes exist in Brazil and Israel, experts caution that chatbots pose a significant risk by influencing voter opinions and potentially suppressing turnout. An expert emphasized the need for resilience against AI threats rather than seeking a definitive solution.
Written by AI on 2026-10-22, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

AI is significantly influencing high-stake elections globally, with Brazil and Israel trying to regulate deepfake content that affects these races. However, experts caution that voters are more susceptible to chatbots designed to sway opinions and suppress voter turnout. According to The Times of Israel, cybersecurity firms have detected thousands of AI-generated websites posing as local US news sites but aimed at misleading information systems rather than directly informing voters. An expert advised focusing on building resilience against AI threats rather than seeking a definitive solution to AI safety.

Written for “AI In Elections Worldwide” on 2026-11-01, grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 AI In Elections Worldwide
Technology · 1 article(s) covering the same event.

Compared with similar articles

This article reads leans left and hedges 0% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
Toronto Star
⚖️ Leans strongly left further left than this Hedges 4 of 31 claims Outlet record 64/100
“Article A focuses on the political mobilization of Brazil's left after Flávio Bolsonaro's strong performance in the election, while Article B discusses broader AI interference in elections globally, including but not limited to specific instances in Brazil.”
NBC News
Hedges 20 of 95 claims Outlet record 60/100
“The articles discuss different aspects of AI use in political campaigns and do not describe the same specific incident.”
The Bulwark
⚖️ Leans left Hedges 2 of 12 claims
“Article A discusses AI's impact on elections globally, while Article B focuses on a discussion with Francis Fukuyama about AI policy in America.”
Los Angeles Times
⚖️ Leans left Hedges 15 of 44 claims Outlet record 95/100
“The articles discuss different aspects of AI's impact on elections and politics, rather than the same specific incident.”
CBS News
⚖️ Centre further right than this Hedges 0 of 2 claims Outlet record 66/100
“The articles discuss different aspects of AI and its impacts, one focusing on managing risks and plans by tech leaders, while the other discusses AI's role in shaping elections through misinformation.”
BBC News
Hedges 0 of 3 claims Outlet record 68/100
“Article A discusses AI misinformation in various countries including the US, while Article B focuses specifically on AI election ads used directly by political groups and candidates in the US midterms campaign.”
Al Jazeera
⚖️ Leans right further right than this Hedges 6 of 32 claims Outlet record 60/100
“Article A discusses AI-generated misinformation in multiple countries including Israel, while Article B focuses specifically on social media manipulation and deepfakes during Israel's upcoming election.”
Deutsche Welle
⚖️ Leans right further right than this Hedges 5 of 59 claims Outlet record 95/100
“Article A focuses on a specific deepfake video involving Israeli election candidates, while Article B discusses AI's broader impact on elections in multiple countries including Israel.”
The Guardian
⚖️ Leans left Hedges 13 of 60 claims Outlet record 66/100
“The articles discuss similar issues but cover different time periods and contexts: Article A is broader, mentioning Brazil, Israel, and the US, while Article B focuses specifically on the run-up to the US midterms with a narrower timeframe.”
AI Brings Back Public Trust Different event
Persuasion
⚖️ Leans left Hedges 8 of 118 claims
“The articles discuss AI's impact on elections and communication technologies broadly but do not describe the same specific incident.”
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
4
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
0%
0 of 4 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
Leans left
of the writing, not the subject · beta estimate
Publisher signals
60/100
Semafor's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
1
Technology
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-10-22 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

Semafor · 1393 article(s) · 1 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 1 correction(s)

Who wrote this

Brendan Ruberry
141 article(s) here · 0 carrying a prediction
🔮 Though oil prices retreated this week as Washington and Tehran pursued tentative diplomacy, refining capacity remains limited, and the White House has signaled it could resume strikes on Iran after midterms.
2026-10-29 · mixed framing · US economy grows faster than expected
🔮 Both Kyiv and Moscow praised US first lady Melania Trump for helping secure the truce in Oleshky, which some warned Russia would use for military resupply and propaganda efforts, as the conflict’s death toll mounts elsewhere.
🔮 Benjamin Netanyahu is now oddsmakers’ favorite to stay on as Israel’s prime minister in its next government, which could take weeks or months to form, as the broader region braced for a period of prolonged uncertainty.
🔮 “If it happens again around the US elections, the havoc would reach a whole new level.”
🔮 The projected results delivered a rebuke to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whose coalition finished behind that of challenger Gadi Eisenkot, who has offered himself as a hawkish alternative to the scandal-dogged Netanyahu.
🔮 US gas prices are 40% higher than one year ago, driven by energy pressures resulting from the Iran war, which has spiked shipping costs and the price of many household items; the Federal Reserve is expected to hit pause on interest rates this week, but not for long, investors predicted.
2026-10-27 · assertive framing · US consumer confidence ticks up in October
🔮 Coming days before the Communist Party’s Fifth Plenum, the intervention may have helped “prop up the market,” a Chinese financial commentator said, but “it couldn’t prop up investors’ confidence.”
🔮 Bolsonaro’s loss comes as the Trump administration’s “Donroe Doctrine” to reassert hegemony over Latin America is being tested elsewhere: The US is charting a path toward Venezuelan elections, but the return of the country’s popular opposition leader could complicate that process, analysts noted, risking hardliner backlash.
🔮 France’s far-right presidential favorite Marine Le Pen said new Ukraine funding before April elections would be a “democratic scandal,” as Ukraine hunkers down for winter: Kyiv has attempted to harden its grid as Moscow intensifies strikes on energy infrastructure, but delayed regulatory reforms have put it on the back foot.
2026-10-27 · assertive framing · EU lobbies G7 nations to increase Ukraine funding
🔮 Waiving tariffs on some Canadian agricultural products could presage similar efforts in Michigan and New Hampshire, where Republican candidates facing uphill election fights have spoken out against tariffs on Canada.
Also by Brendan Ruberry
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 141 articles by Brendan Ruberry →

Topics

Brazil Israel The Times of Israel Transformer

Subjects

Brazil GPE · 2× Israel GPE · 2× The Times of Israel ORG · 1× Transformer ORG · 1×

Narrative

While Brazil and Israel are attempting to police the deluge of deepfakes that are impacting high-stakes races, experts warn that voters are more vulnerable to chatbots that can “sway opinions [and] suppress turnout,” The Times of Israel reported.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-10-22
2026-10-22 · Semafor
AI is reshaping high-stakes elections around the world · assertive framing

Claims (4 extracted, 0 hedged)

Partisan actors are gaming AI platforms to regurgitate misleading information ahead of critical elections in Brazil, Israel, and the US. asserted
actors → game → Brazil
Cybersecurity firms identified thousands of AI-generated websites purporting to be local US news sites, but “the sites are not written for voters,” one firm noted: “They are written for the AI systems voters ask.” asserted
voters → identify → systems
While Brazil and Israel are attempting to police the deluge of deepfakes that are impacting high-stakes races, experts warn that voters are more vulnerable to chatbots that can “sway opinions [and] suppress turnout,” The Times of Israel reported. asserted
Times → attempt → Israel
“We should stop thinking of AI safety as a finish line,” an expert told Transformer. asserted
expert → stop → Transformer
💬Give feedback
🕘History 🎫Support