China's state media weaponizes AI-generated animations to mock the U.S. and reshape narratives

China's State Media Embraces AI-Generated Animations

China's state media has abandoned dogmatic messaging in favor of artificial intelligence-powered content designed to spread Chinese viewpoints globally and mock the U.S. 1

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. In a five-minute AI-generated animation modeled after classic martial arts movies, China Central Television created an allegory for the war in Iran, depicting a white eagle in regal attire representing the U.S. attacking Persian cats draped in black cloaks standing in for Iranians 2

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. The metaphor-rich short has gone viral at home and garnered more than 1 million views in only a few days after an X user subtitled and posted the clip online 3

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Information War Intensifies Through Global Messaging

This represents part of an intensifying information war in which Beijing seeks to counter Western narratives that it often sees as biased or derogatory about China 1

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. Chinese President Xi Jinping has pushed for years to boost the country's abilities to spread its messages globally and gain a greater say on world affairs 2

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. Recent State Department cables have warned that foreign messaging campaigns carried on digital platforms by foreign state-controlled media "pose a direct threat to U.S. national security and fuel hostility toward American interests" 3

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Targeting Younger, International Audiences with Engaging Infotainment

AI-generated "infotainment" spread via social media is likely to be more effective in persuading younger audiences worldwide to accept Chinese viewpoints and is becoming routine in the country's messaging, said Shi Anbin, professor and director of Israel Epstein Center for Global Media and Communications at Tsinghua University 1

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. "It is a new way for Chinese mainstream media to engage global Gen Z audience and social media users to understand Chinese standpoint and viewpoint of international affairs," Shi explained 2

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. Andrew Chubb, a senior lecturer in the School of Global Affairs at Lancaster University whose studies include political propaganda, observed: "It's hardly even like propaganda -- it almost seems more just a historical fiction dramatization of the situation" 3

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From Rigid Communist Messaging to Digital Narratives

This shift marks a departure from when China's messaging was dull, with Party newspapers carrying slogan-filled, hollow-sounding speeches 1

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. Beijing now embraces impish web language, rap music, and recruits pop singers and actors to star in patriotic films, counting on their popular appeal to draw young people 2

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. State media are experimenting with nontraditional formats, including short-form, digitally native content using AI, said Wang Zichen, deputy secretary-general for the Beijing-based think tank Center for China & Globalization 3

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Building a Social Media Matrix for Geopolitical Events

China has directed money into promoting a narrative that targets a global audience, building a massive "matrix" of social media accounts managed by diplomats, state media, influencers and even bots on various platforms, including X and Facebook 1

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. In February, the official Xinhua News Agency released an AI-generated music video lampooning the U.S. threat to take over Greenland 2

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. These AI-generated animations also mock President Donald Trump's plan to exert U.S. predominance in the Western Hemisphere and frame geopolitical events through allegories that resonate with audiences unfamiliar with complex international affairs 3

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. Pro-Iran groups have similarly used sleek, AI-generated memes to taunt the U.S. and Trump, indicating this approach's growing influence in shaping global narratives and geopolitics 1

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