FBI investigating call in which AI appearing to be Dmytro Kuleba asked Ben Cardin ‘politically charged questions’

A deepfake “actor” imitating Ukraine’s recently departed foreign minister targeted the chairman of the Senate’s powerful foreign relations committee in a suspected attempt at election interference, US officials have confirmed.

Ben Cardin, the Democratic senator for Maryland, grew suspicious during a pre-arranged Zoom call on 19 September with a person posing as Dmytro Kuleba, who stepped down as Ukraine’s top diplomat in a government reshuffle this month.