Claude’s Russian Propaganda Problem

May 14, 2026 · 32 min

About this episode

The episode explores the decline in reliability of the chatbot Claude and its connection to evolving Russian disinformation campaigns.

According to the fact-checking company NewsGuard, Claude has been a very reliable and accurate chatbot. But in the last month or so, users have started complaining that it seemed to be getting slower, stupider, and less trustworthy. So NewsGuard AI analyst Isis Blachez ran a test on Claude, to see if it is actually getting worse. And running this test revealed a whole new iteration of Russian disinformation campaigns, designed for the AI-era, that are evolving by the second specifically to coerce chatbots into deceiving us.  Question Everything is a production of KCRW and Placement Theory . And don’t forget to sign up for our newsletter . Guests:  Isis Blachez , analyst for AI and France at NewsGuard Please support the organizations that support this show: Go to https://zbiotics.com/QUESTION and use QUESTION at checkout for 15% off any first-time orders of ZBiotics probiotics. Refresh your everyday with luxury you'll actually use. Head to Quince.com/QUESTION for free shipping on your order and 365-day returns. Ground News is a platform that makes it easy to compare news sources, read between the lines of media bias, and break free from algorithms. Go to…

People in this episode

Host: Brian Reed

Guest: Isis Blachez

Topics covered

AI
disinformation
chatbots
propaganda
fact-checking

Keywords

Claude
Russian propaganda
disinformation campaigns
AI
NewsGuard

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: NewsGuard, KCRW, Placement Theory

Products: ZBiotics, Quince, Ground News, DeleteMe