AI Companions May Be China's Next Recruitment Tool

SpyCast

Education, News, History

4.4 • 1.7K Ratings

🗓️ 10 March 2026

⏱️ 38 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

When you’re sitting alone, and you want company or advice, have you ever turned to Artificial Intelligence? Chip Usher, who spent 32 years in the CIA, has been looking at AI companions. The tech companies behind them claim they offer comfort and reliability. Chip says they mostly come from China, and eventually they will be used to collect personal data on users, building a roadmap for recruiting and influence. Chip has conducted research on the threat through his role as the Senior Director for Intelligence at a nonprofit called the Special Competitive Studies Project. Subscribe to Sasha's Substack, HUMINT, to get more intelligence stories: https://sashaingber.substack.com/ For more information about the International Spy Museum, visit: https://www.spymuseum.org/ And if you have feedback or want to hear about a particular topic, you can reach us by email at spycast@spymuseum.org. This show is brought to you by N2K Networks, Goat Rodeo, and the International Spy Museum in Washington, DC. This episode was produced by Flora Warshaw and the team at Goat Rodeo. At the International Spy Museum, Mike Mincey and Memphis Vaughan III are our video editors. Emily Rens is our graphic designer. Joshua Troemel runs our SPY social media. Amanda Ohlke is our Director of Adult Education and Mira Cohen is the Vice President of Programs.

Transcript

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0:00.0	You're listening to the Cyberwire Network, powered by N2K.
0:09.7	Welcome to Spycast, the official podcast of the International Spy Museum.
0:18.5	I'm your host, Sasha Inver, and we're in the midst of Camouflage Month,
0:23.5	highlighting our new Camo exhibit, an exploration of the world of disguise, deception,
0:30.3	distortion, and disappearance. So for deception, when you're sitting alone and you want
0:37.1	company or advice, have you ever
0:39.5	turn to artificial intelligence? And Chip Usher, who spent 32 years in the CIA, has been looking
0:46.7	at AI companions. The tech companies behind them claim they offer comfort and reliability.
0:56.7	Chip says they mostly come from China,
1:04.5	and eventually they will be used to collect personal data on users, building a roadmap for recruiting and influence. He's conducted research on this threat as senior director for intelligence at a nonprofit called the Special Competitive Studies Project.
1:16.2	Hey, Chip, welcome to Spycast.
1:19.4	So glad to be here.
1:21.0	So how does a former senior intelligence officer from the CIA suddenly start investigating AI companions?
1:31.6	That's a great question. It wasn't actually something that I necessarily planned to do.
1:36.3	But currently, I work at the Special Competitive Studies Project on the Senior Advisor for Intelligence.
1:41.7	And our work is focused on understanding how artificial intelligence and
1:46.5	other advanced technologies are going to impact the future of the business of intelligence.
1:52.9	But last year, we embarked on a project that examined how AI and the future of AI could
1:59.7	impact human collection, espionage. So we were starting to
2:05.7	kind of generate a picture about how AIs could be actually employed by intelligence services
2:13.4	to recruit spies. About the same time, I have a 10-year-old son,
2:20.0	and my 10-year-old loves 80s hairband music.
	...

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