A Taiwanese technology leader with a front-row seat to the battle for online supremacy in the Pacific warns that China is waging an increasingly influential and sophisticated war of manipulation while many Americans appear to be disregarding the fight.
Ethan Tu ditched a comfortable post as principal development manager at Microsoft in 2017 to build up his Taiwan AI Labs, a privately funded research laboratory in Taipei. The fledgling firm is at the forefront of technology platforms using artificial intelligence models to catch and combat online foreign influence campaigns.
His platform has captured Washington’s attention. He said its cyber-alarm systems could help Taiwan forecast any forthcoming invasion from China, which has vowed to take over the island democracy it considers part of its sovereign territory. Right now, however, the communist regime in Beijing has the initiative online, he said.
“China is pretty dominating” in the information space, he said in an interview while detailing his lab’s work in a 227-slide presentation shown to The Washington Times.
“United States is being naive, including the citizens and the government,” Mr. Tu said. “They are thinking the United States is strong. They are thinking the internet chaos is part of democracy, but no.”
Taiwan AI Labs built its Infodemic platform as a diagnostic tool for nontechnical users to detect and understand cognitive warfare on social media and across the internet. The platform uses large language models, or powerful algorithms, to identify coordinated, nefarious behavior on Facebook, X, YouTube, TikTok, Taiwanese social platforms and other websites in real time.
Taiwan has emerged as a test case of offense and defense cognitive warfare. Its hotly contested presidential election last month attracted intense interest from Beijing, Washington and other actors worldwide.
After Taiwan’s election, Mr. Tu’s lab published a report documenting when and where digital armies had assembled, what narratives they pushed and the methods they used to avoid detection. The lab uncovered legions of digital trolls disguised with AI-generated images, videos and audio-sharing content on Facebook, all designed to sway public opinion against candidates and parties seen as hostile to Beijing.
The lab’s discovery of China’s digital disruption efforts could supply the template for Beijing’s game plan as the U.S. prepares for its presidential election in November.
The lab spotted what it said was a major troll group on Facebook simultaneously slamming Taiwan in Mandarin Chinese and trashing the U.S. in English. The coordinated attack online intensified last year after President Biden formally announced his intention to run for reelection.
Taiwan AI Labs’ work has caught the attention of Western experts and won praise from Washington’s top China watchers, including those at the nonprofit Special Competitive Studies Project.
Chip Usher, who left the CIA last year after more than three decades and joined the nonprofit, lauded Mr. Tu’s work at an Intelligence and National Security Alliance event this month.
Mr. Tu and Taiwan AI Labs “are doing some fantastic work in using AI to detect, characterize and enable the Taiwanese government to take action to defend against malicious disinformation campaigns that are appearing on social media websites,” Mr. Usher said at the event.
Mr. Tu appreciates Mr. Usher’s Special Competitive Studies Project, chaired by former Google CEO Eric Schmidt, but acknowledges souring on some of America’s other Big Tech companies. Mr. Tu told The Times that he left Microsoft because of its business engagement with China, and he said many leading U.S. technology firms are motivated by profit without considering the country’s more extensive interests.
“Of course Microsoft [profits] from China, but I would say the commercial company … will not go against profit or go against any country because they want to present [that] they’re neutral,” Mr. Tu said.
Microsoft did not respond to a request for comment.
Many companies and executives in Silicon Valley, he said, are bent on courtesy to China while Beijing seeks to spark domestic turmoil in Taiwan and sow discord in the U.S.
Chinese President Xi Jinping has reportedly told his armed forces to be prepared to take control of Taiwan by 2027. Mr. Tu said he expected Beijing to adopt digital strategies similar to Russia’s before it invaded Ukraine in 2022 and the tactics of anti-Israel forces ahead of Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack.
Cybersecurity professionals say Ukraine has held up against Russia’s digital onslaught better than some technology experts expected. Mr. Tu said vigilance has left Taiwan better prepared than Ukraine to stare down its giant neighbor.
“I would say Taiwan has more awareness,” Mr. Tu said.
He said staying offline or avoiding specific social media sites won’t protect Americans from China’s malicious digital influence campaigns.
He points to Taiwanese consumers’ rush to hoard eggs last year, jeopardizing food security, as an example of the power of disinformation and strategically placed messages online. Taiwan AI Labs researchers found that malicious cyber-actors churned out false content about an incident involving egg imports that led to panic buying.
Surging egg prices and strained supplies affected people online and offline.
• Ryan Lovelace can be reached at rlovelace@washingtontimes.com.
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