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US tells election officials to be on guard against AI-powered tricks ahead of midterms

By Thomson Reuters Oct 16, 2026 | 10:06 AM

WASHINGTON, Oct 16 (Reuters) – The FBI and the US cyber defense agency ​CISA are urging ‌election officials — and the American public — to be on guard against AI-powered tricks ‌ahead ​of next month’s ⁠midterm elections.

Here are ⁠more details:

• An alert issued Friday by CISA and the FBI says ​that hackers may try to disrupt the ⁠midterm elections ⁠using bogus text ​messages and emails aimed at ​stealing passwords or other ‌sensitive data.

• The alert says that “election officials, candidates, and their political organizations ⁠are attractive targets to malicious cyber criminals.”

• The alert says ⁠that “super ‌intelligence,” a Trump-approved ⁠term for AI, ​is ‌allowing hackers to sharpen ​their rogue ⁠emails and texts to make them look and sound more convincing.

(Reporting by Raphael Satter; Editing by Chizu ​Nomiyama)