AI-Generated Imitation of Elon Musk Pushes China’s Propaganda on YouTube

In late January, FDD identified a YouTube channel, MuskTalk007, filled with AI-generated videos imitating Elon Musk that push pro-China propaganda. Since its creation on December 7, 2024, the channel has amassed almost 2 million views, garnering considerable engagement for videos that denigrate the United States and present China as technologically and economically superior.

What MuskTalk007 Is Saying

MuskTalk007 uses AI to imitate Musk’s voice and appearance, employing a robotic-sounding voiceover that mimics his tone and accent. The channel also appears to have utilized AI to manipulate a real interview with Musk from August 2024, which the channel deploys to make it appear as if Musk is actually narrating the video. The channel neither acknowledges its use of AI nor describes itself as a parody, suggesting it seeks to present its videos as authentic.

The channel champions Chinese technology, including bionic hands, drones, and fighter jets. One notable video claims that Chinese AI firm DeepSeek’s V3 model is superior to American AI models. The channel posted this video on January 3, well in advance of the late January surge in U.S. media coverage of DeepSeek’s AI models.

The channel also frequently asserts the superiority of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) over the United States. For example, it suggests that China possesses superior military technology and has repeatedly argued that China’s disaster response is superior to the way the United States has responded to the California fires. It also forecasts that China may gain the upper hand in the emerging trade war with the United States.

Additionally, the channel takes shots at Japanese automobile manufacturer Nissan and claims Germany’s automobile companies lag behind China’s electric vehicle production. This narrative evokes China’s broader efforts that leverage overt and covert influence to promote its electric vehicles and to criticize Western tariffs against them.

How MuskTalk007 Resembles Other Pro-CCP Influence Campaigns

After FDD first identified MuskTalk007 in late January, we found that Malaysian researcher Dr. Adrian Wong independently discovered MuskTalk007 in mid-January, asserting that the CCP-sponsored internet commenters in China’s 50 Cent Army created the channel. Wong did not provide specific evidence to substantiate this claim.

The channel’s behaviors and narratives, however, resemble the Shadow Play network, a pro-China influence operation exposed by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) in December 2023. Both MuskTalk007 and the Shadow Play network claim Beijing is outcompeting Washington in technology, praise Chinese infrastructure projects, and criticize major non-Chinese companies.

Both MuskTalk007 and the Shadow Play network also use video essay-style formats with generative AI voiceovers that often incorporate stock imagery and stock footage. Notably, MuskTalk007 promotes China’s BeiDuo Navigation Satellite System, the topic that served as the initial lead for ASPI’s investigation into Shadow Play.

Private Sector Must Shoulder Burden as U.S. Shutters Efforts to Counter Malign Influence

MuskTalk007’s sizable reach is particularly worrying amid reports that Washington is shuttering efforts to counter foreign malign influence. Notably, Attorney General Pam Bondi released a memorandum on February 5 disbanding the Justice Department’s Foreign Influence Task Force.

Private companies, however, can and should continue to prevent foreign malign manipulation of their platforms. YouTube should consider shutting down MuskTalk007 and similar channels for violating YouTube’s policy on deceptive practices. Nonprofits can also aid these efforts by continuing to provide research on foreign malign influence operations to private companies.

Max Lesser is a senior analyst on emerging threats at the Center on Cyber and Technology Innovation (CCTI) at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), where Julien Fagel is an intern. For more analysis from the authors, CCTI, and FDD’s Iran Program, please subscribe HERE. Follow FDD on X  @FDD and @FDD_CCTI. FDD is a Washington, DC-based, nonpartisan research institute focused on national security and foreign policy.