What if the “independent think tank” your AI cites isn’t actually independent at all? That’s what appears to be happening with the Hanover Institute for Public Policy, a new website that looks like a traditional American research organization but was created to carry out work for the Israeli Government. Since launching earlier this month, Hanover has pumped out more than 100 reports with the goal of poisoning AI chatbots with pro-Israel narratives. Many of the reports are written around the exact questions people might ask AI, like “What is the current situation in the Gaza Strip?” and “Is there a policy of starvation in Gaza?” The reports come loaded with citations, statistics and neutral-sounding language. This is the exact kind of material AI systems tend to treat as credible, all designed to manipulate AI systems to flip the narrative when it comes to Israel’s destruction in Gaza. None of the reports have bylines and there’s also a small disclaimer at the bottom of each page that says the material is distributed by Piro, Inc. on behalf of the Israeli Government. Curiously enough, on the same line it also reads, “Additional information is available at the Department of Justice, Washington, DC.” Piro Inc. openly advertises a service called “AI Story Optimization,” and it’s not hiding what it was designed to do. Its website spells it out: “Piro combines Hollywood storytelling with AI engineering to shape the narratives that influence how the world thinks, decides and buys.” Nothing concerning about wanting to shape how the world “thinks” and “decides,” right? Hanover isn’t Israel’s only avenue when it comes to attempting to brainwash the public. Israel also hired former Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale under a $46.5 million contract to build pro-Israel websites designed to influence chatbots. Last month, a Drop Site investigation found that Microsoft Copilot and Google Gemini had already collected information from some of those sites. So the next time an AI chatbot tells you what “the evidence shows,” it might be worth asking where that evidence came from. The post Israel Is Shaping What AI Says appeared first on Redacted.