A 22-year-old medical student from northern India has claimed he created an AI-generated conservative influencer to exploit what he called the 'dumb' MAGA crowd, according to a report by Wired. The student, identified only as Sam, said he earned thousands of dollars monthly from the fake persona, Emily Hart, by posting on Instagram and Facebook.
Sam told Wired he started the accounts to generate extra cash while studying. 'The MAGA crowd is made up of dumb people—like, super dumb people. And they fall for it,' he said. The pages, which have since been taken down, featured posts on immigration and abortion, including one that read: 'If you want a reason to unfollow: Christ is king, abortion is murder, and all illegals must be deported.'
The Instagram page was banned in February for 'fraudulent' activity, and the Facebook page also appears to have been removed. Meta, which owns both platforms, requires users to label AI-generated content and may apply penalties for non-compliance. Sam said he used Google's Gemini AI platform to create the images, and the AI suggested the 'MAGA/conservative niche' as a profitable audience, noting that older US men often have higher disposable income and loyalty.
Google responded that Gemini is designed to provide a range of viewpoints without conveying a set of beliefs. Sam also sold MAGA apparel and subscriptions on Fanvue, an AI monetisation platform. He expressed no regret, stating he was not scamming people and that the income was substantial for a medical student in India.
