• Military deception must adapt rapidly to the age of AI.
• Commanders in future wars will rely on AI to aid their staff in assessing the battlefield.
• This creates vulnerabilities to fool the AI, especially for rigid militaries, US Army officers said.

Deception operations are the ultimate mind games of war. Manipulating enemy commanders into expecting an attack at the wrong place, or tricking them into underestimating your strength can be far more powerful than tanks or bombs.

But what if the enemy is enhanced by a thinking computer?

Successful operations must now fool not only human commanders, but the AI that advises them, according to two US Army officers. And Russia and China — with their rigid, centralized command and control — may be particularly vulnerable if their AI is deceived.

"Commanders can no longer rely on traditional methods of deception like hiding troop movements or equipment," argue Mark Askew and Antonio Salinas in an essay for the Modern War Institute at West Point. "Instead, shaping perceptions in sensor-rich environments requires a shift in thinking — from concealing information to manipulating how the enemy, including AI systems and tools, interpret it."

Historically, commanders went to great lengths to fool enemy generals using misdirection, decoy armies and letting slip false war plans. Today, nations will have to focus on "feeding adversaries accurate if misleading data that can manipulate their interpretation of information and misdirect their activity," the essay said

The idea is to turn AI into an Achilles heel of an enemy commander and their staffs. This can be done by making "their AI systems ineffective and break their trust in those systems and tools," the essay suggests. "Commanders can overwhelm AI systems with false signals and present them with unexpected or novel data; AI tools excel at pattern recognition, but struggle with understanding how new variables (outside of their training data) inform or change the context of a situation."

For example, "slight changes in a drone's appearance might cause AI to misidentify it," Askew and Salinas told Business Insider. "People are not likely to be thrown off by small or subtle tweaks, but AI is."

To determine enemy intentions or target weapons, modern armies today rely on vast amounts of data from a variety of sources ranging from drones and satellites, to infantry patrols and intercepted radio signals. The information is so copious that human analysts are overwhelmed.

What makes AI so attractive is its speed at analyzing huge quantities of data. This has been a boon for companies such as Scale AI, which have won lucrative Pentagon contracts.

Yet the power of AI also magnifies the damage it can do. "AI can coordinate and implement flawed responses much faster than humans alone," Askew and Salinas said.

Fooling AI can lead to "misallocation of enemy resources, delayed responses, or even friendly fire incidents if the AI misidentifies targets," the authors told Business Insider. By feeding false data, one can manipulate the enemy's perception of the battlefield, creating opportunities for surprise."

Russia and China are already devoting great efforts to military AI. Russia is using artificial intelligence in drones and cyberwarfare, while the Chinese military is using the DeepSeek system for planning and logistics.

But the rigidity of Russian and Chinese command structures makes any reliance on AI an opening. "In such systems, decisions often rely heavily on top-down information flow, and if the AI at the top is fed deceptive data, it can lead to widespread misjudgments," the authors said. "Moreover, centralized structures might lack the flexibility to quickly adapt or cross-verify information, making them more vulnerable to deception if they cannot protect their systems."

In other words, false images are fed to an enemy's sensors, such as video cameras, to try to get the AI to rush to the wrong conclusion, further blinding the human commander.

Naturally, China and Russia — and other adversaries such as Iran and North Korea — will seek to exploit weaknesses in American AI. Thus, the US military must take precautions, such as protecting the data that feeds its AI.

Either way, the constant presence of drones in Ukraine shows that the sweeping maneuvers and surprise attacks of Napoleon or Rommel are becoming relics of the past. But as the MWI essay points out, surveillance can determine enemy strength, but not enemy intent.

"This means deception must focus on shaping what the adversary thinks is happening rather than avoiding detection altogether," the essay said. "By crafting a believable deception narrative — through signals, false headquarters, and logistical misdirection — commanders can lead enemy AI and human decision-makers to make ineffective decisions."

Like any scam, military deception is most effective when it reinforces what the enemy already believes. The essay points to the Battle of Cannae in 216 BCE, when a Roman army was nearly annihilated by Carthage. Intelligence wasn't the problem: the Romans could see the Carthaginian forces arrayed for battle. But Hannibal, the legendary commander, deceived Roman commanders into believing the center of the Carthaginian line was weak. When the Romans attacked the center, the Carthaginian cavalry struck from the flank in a pincer maneuver that encircled and decimated the legions.

Two millennia later, the Allies used elaborate deception operations to mislead the Germans about where the D-Day invasion would take place. Hitler and his generals believed the amphibious assault would occur in the Calais area, nearest to Allied ports and airbases, rather than the more distant Normandy region. Fake armies in Britain, complete with dummy tanks and planes, not only convinced the Germans that Calais was the real target. The German high command believed that the Normandy landings were a feint, and thus kept strong garrisons in Calais to repel an invasion that never came.

Drones and satellites have improved battlefield intelligence to a degree that Hannibal could never have imagined. AI can sift through vast amounts of sensor data. But there still remains the fog of war. "AI will not eliminate war's chaos, deception, and uncertainty — it will only reshape how those factors manifest," the essay concluded. "While intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance systems may provide episodic clarity, they will never offer a perfect, real-time understanding of intent."

Michael Peck is a defense writer whose work has appeared in Forbes, Defense News, Foreign Policy magazine, and other publications. He holds an MA in political science from Rutgers Univ. Follow him on Twitter and LinkedIn.

• Caring for your gut microbiome is one of the buzziest health topics right now.
• The evidence that a happy gut improves our overall health is piling up.
• The message is spreading online, and businesses are cashing in.

Is half of your social circle suddenly obsessed with their gut health? You're probably not alone.

From 2015's "The Good Gut" by Erica and Justin Sonnenburg to Netflix's 2024 documentary "Hack Your Health," numerous documentaries, books, and articles in the last decade — including by Business Insider — have explored the potential benefits of caring for the gut. Between December 2021 and April 2022, Google searches for "gut health" doubled, the search engine's data shows, and have kept rising since.

In turn, the global digestive health market — which encompasses functional foods and dietary supplements, from probiotic yogurts to juice "cleanses" — is projected to be worth $71.95 billion in 2027, up from $37.93 billion in 2019, according to market research by Fortune Business Reports.

But the increase in interest doesn't seem to be because significantly more people have gut problems than in previous decades, Dr. Kyle Staller, a gastroenterologist and director of the Gastrointestinal Motility Laboratory at Massachusetts General Hospital, told BI.

← removed sentence in brackets and added line break And our diets haven't changed enough in recent years to have worsened gut health on a population-wide scale, he said.

Instead, health experts told BI the buzz comes down to a combination of growing research suggesting gut health plays a larger role in our overall health than previously thought, the rise of wellness influencers, and a post-pandemic obsession with preventative health.

The link between the gut microbiome and our general health is clearer than ever

The trillions of microorganisms in our digestive system, known as the gut microbiome, are at the center of this health craze. Early research suggests that a healthy gut microbiome is one that contains a diverse range of microbes, nurtured by things such as high-fiber and fermented foods, and is linked to many physical and mental health benefits.

This research was advanced with the launch of the Human Microbiome Project at the National Institutes of Health in 2007, and influential gut-health labs have since been established at institutions including Stanford University and King's College London.

And there's been a 4,300% increase in the number of academic papers mentioning the terms "gut health" or the "gut microbiome" in the last decade — from three papers in 2014 to 132 papers in 2024 — according to data from Elsevier's Scopus research database.

This explosion of research coincided with the rise of social media and the erosion of certain taboos, including talking about gastrointestinal issues, Staller said, especially for women.

With greater social awareness, comes greater misunderstanding

People being candid about their digestive problems on social media has made us more aware of the gut's role in our health and wellbeing, Stephanie Alice Baker, a sociologist at City St George's, University of London, who researches online health misinformation and wellness culture, told BI.

And as fad diets fall out of fashion, gut health has become a socially acceptable replacement, she said.

The idea of wanting to lose weight is more taboo now than it was 15 years ago, Baker said. "Now, people still want to be slim, but they'll often frame that goal through the lens of health or self-optimization," she said, because it's more socially acceptable.

And when a health trend gains awareness online, an influx of companies, products, and services will always appear in response, she added.

But Staller said that the research is still new, and we understand much less than people might think. He cautions against jumping to conclusions based on one or two scientific studies or anecdotal evidence being shared online. Don't believe that products marketed as "natural" are automatically beneficial, he added.

"People seem to think that somehow we might be able to hack our guts and cultivate the ideal microbiome," Staller said, with probiotics or fermented foods. But we don't know how to create the "ideal microbiome" because we don't know what one looks like yet, he said.

While there's no "magic trick" or miracle product for good gut health, Staller recommended focusing on generally healthy habits: getting enough sleep, eating a nutritious diet including enough fiber, and being active.

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• Vice President JD Vance called Chinese people "peasants" during an interview with Fox.
• Anger against Vance's comment is fueling further discontent over US tariffs on China.
• Many Chinese social media users pointed to Vance's upbringing in Appalachia.

Vice President JD Vance's comment about Chinese people has esclated online tension between the US and China over a back-and-forth trade war.

"What has the globalist economy gotten the United States of America? And the answer is, fundamentally, it's based on two principles — incurring a huge amount of debt to buy things that other countries make for us," Vance told Lawrence Jones on news show "Fox & Friends" on April 3.

"To make it a little more crystal clear, we borrow money from Chinese peasants to buy the things those Chinese peasants manufacture," Vance continued.

It took some time, but clips of Vance's interview went viral across the Chinese social media over the following weeks and drew intense backlash. By April 7, a hashtag on Vance's remarks became the top trending topic on Weibo, China's Twitter-adjacent social media platform, and racked up a total of more than 150 million views by April 18.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian responded to the comments during a press conference on April 8: "It's both astonishing and lamentable to hear this vice president make such ignorant and disrespectful remarks.

The internet fire storm soon followed, and the anger against Vance spilled over into discussions related to US tariffs on China.

In a dramatic speech about the tariffs that has racked up millions of views, Xia Baolong, a Chinese politician and director of the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office, ended his talk by hitting back at Vance.

"Let those American peasants wail in front of the 5,000 year-old civilization of the Chinese nation," Xia said.

"Vance once said that the Chinese are 'peasants.' This real 'peasant' who came from the American countryside seems to have some defects in perspective," wrote Hu Xijin, the influential former editor-in-chief of state-run paper Global Times, on a Weibo post discussing the possibility of a trade decoupling between China and the US.

"Look, this is their true face — arrogant and rude as always," wrote one Weibo commenter who racked up more than 3,000 likes.

"We are peasants, but we have the best high-speed rail system in the world, the most powerful logistics capabilities, and the world's leading AI technology, unmanned driving technology, drone technology, etc.," wrote another Weibo commenter. "Such peasants are still quite powerful."

Some more politically savvy commenters also pointed out the irony in Vance's remarks, considering his own working-class roots as described in his 2016 memoir "Hillbilly Elegy."

In the memoir, Vance recounts a childhood marked by poverty, abuse, and his mother's struggle with addiction, much of it spent in Appalachia — a region he portrays as neglected by affluent elites. The book was widely seen as appealing among the white working class and as an explanation for the billionaire's rise.

"Vice-President Vance, don't forget," wrote a Chinese blogger on Zhi Hu, a Chinese micro-blogging platform, "a peasant gave birth to you!"

The White House did not respond to Business Insider's request for comment.

Attorney General Pam Bondi has called the attacks to Tesla property and vehicles "domestic terrorism."

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Boasberg said that while he was "sympathetic," he doesn't believe he has the authority to block more deportations under the Alien Enemies Act.

The Trump administration's reported openness to recognizing Crimea as part of Russia would likely throw a wrench into ceasefire talks.

• Deputy Treasury Secretary Michael Faulkender became the acting commissioner of the IRS on Friday.
• Faulkender is the 3rd person to lead the IRS since tax season began and the 5th since Trump took office.
• Trump has nominated Billy Long for the role, but his confirmation is awaiting Senate approval.

The Internal Revenue Service had another leadership shake-up on Friday, marking the third turnover the bureau has seen since tax week began — and the fifth since Donald Trump took office in January.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced in a Friday statement that he had appointed his deputy, Michael Faulkender, to become acting commissioner of the IRS. Faulkender will take over from Gary Shapley, a former IRS staffer who held the position for just days following Melanie Krause's departure on Tuesday.

"Trust must be brought back to the IRS, and I am fully confident that Deputy Secretary Michael Faulkender is the right man for the moment," Bessent said in a statement on Friday. "Gary Shapley's passion and thoughtfulness for approaching ways by which to create durable and lasting reforms at the IRS is essential to our work, and he remains among my most important senior advisors at the US Treasury as we work together to rethink and reform the IRS."

Shapley, last month, was tapped as a senior advisor to Bessent. He became a hero among conservatives following his testimony before Congress in July 2023, in which he and fellow IRS whistleblower Joseph Ziegler attested that the Justice Department had delayed a criminal probe and tax investigation into Hunter Biden while President Joe Biden was in office.

In his statement, Bessent said Shapley and Ziegler would conduct a yearlong investigation into IRS reforms, after which Bessent said he "will ensure they are both in senior government roles that will enable the results of their investigation to translate into meaningful policy changes."

Shapley took over the role of acting IRS commissioner after Krause resigned on Tuesday. Her resignation came on the heels of the IRS coming to an agreement with the Department of Homeland Security to share sensitive tax information related to undocumented immigrants to help the Trump administration locate and deport them, court documents show.

The agreement was revealed in early April in a partially redacted document filed in a case challenging the legality of the IRS sharing individuals' tax information with external agencies.

Krause took over the agency in an acting capacity after Doug O'Donnell resigned in February. O'Donnell had served in the role following Biden-appointed IRS commissioner Danny Werfel's resignation on Inauguration Day.

Trump has nominated Former Republican Rep. Billy Long for the role, but his confirmation is awaiting Senate approval.

The uncertainty regarding the bureau's leadership comes as the IRS is facing significant staff cuts. Business Insider previously reported that the staffing cuts are intended "to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of the IRS," and include a 75% reduction of the IRS's Office of Civil Rights and Compliance.

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A former U.S. attorney under former President Biden is running for mayor of Albuquerque, New Mexico, and seeking to oust a fellow Democrat in a city plagued by rising crime and a troubled police department, Axios has learned.

Why it matters: Alexander Uballez follows former U.S. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland as the second former Biden official running for office in New Mexico, and may show how Democrats will campaign after 2024 losses.

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The big picture: Uballez will announce Saturday his run against Mayor Tim Keller and other challengers as incumbent mayors in many cities have recently been ousted over crime, homelessness, and allegations of corruption.

• In November, for example, a bid to recall Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao won by a nearly 2-to-1 margin, and San Francisco Mayor London Breed lost her reelection to Levi Strauss heir Daniel Lurie.
• Mississippi state Sen. John Horhn crushed Jackson, Mississippi Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba in an April 1 Democratic primary, 48% to 17%. Lumumba was indicted in an alleged bribery scheme and has pleaded not guilty as the pair head to a run-off.

State of play: The 39-year-old Uballez, who grew up in California's Bay Area, was one of the youngest U.S. Attorneys under Biden.

• Uballez garnered national attention for sparking an investigation into a decades-old DWI corruption scheme inside Albuquerque police that involved officers taking bribes to miss court and getting DWI suspects off.
• He was among the last of Biden's U.S. Attorneys that President Trump forced out in February.

Zoom in: Uballez's entry will likely jolt the race in New Mexico's largest city into a closely watched contest nationally

• The election in November is expected to center on rising crime and a police department hit by the DWI scandal and still under a consent decree stemming from excessive force.

A Keller campaign spokesperson did not immediately respond to Axios.

Zoom out: Preliminary numbers show that homicides in Albuquerque increased by 20% from 2020 to 2024, while the nation's largest cities saw a 16% drop during the same period.

• New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham declared a state of emergency in Albuquerque last week, saying that a significant increase in crime there warranted the help of the New Mexico National Guard.

The intrigue: Uballez is the son of a Chinese immigrant mother and East L.A. Chicano music legendary singer/songwriter Max Uballez.

• The younger Uballez was on an advisory committee of U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland and was one of the most high-profile AAPI Latinos in the Biden Administration.
• If elected, he'd become the state's second Asian American/Mexican American mayor of a major city.
• Ken Miyagishima, the former mayor of Las Cruces and one of the longest-serving Asian American mayors in U.S. history, is expected to join the governor's race next month.

The Trump administration's legal battles continued this week following the president's push to control Harvard University and deport hundreds of thousands of people living in the U.S., including a man mistakenly sent to El Salvador.

Here's our recap of major developments:

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Trump targets Harvard

The Trump administration continued its campaign against Harvard University on Wednesday, threatening the university's funding, ability to host international students and its tax-exempt status.

• The Trump administration has already cut some $2.2 billion in Harvard grants and $60 million in contracts after the university on Monday refused to cave in to government demands made in the name of fighting antisemitism.
• Trump wrote on Truth Social, "Harvard is a JOKE, teaches Hate and Stupidity, and should no longer receive Federal Funds."
• Both the national and Harvard chapter of the American Association of University Professors sued the Trump administration last Friday, alleging First Amendment violations.

Appeals court rules for mistakenly deported man

The Trump administration must work to bring home a man deported to a notorious Salvadorian prison due to an "administrative error," a federal appeals court said Thursday.

• The administration resisted an earlier court order requiring it to do so, instead continuing to portray Kilmar Armando Ábrego García as dangerous.

Context: The administration has not walked back its earlier admission that Ábrego García, a Salvadorian national living in Maryland legally, was mistakenly deported.

• Still, it contends without evidence, that he is an "MS-13 gang member " and "not a sympathetic figure."
• When Homeland Security publicized a temporary protective order his wife, Jennifer Vasquez Sura, filed against him in 2021, she defended him, saying Thursday the order "is not a justification" for ICE "abducting him."
• Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D) successfully met with Ábrego García Thursday and said at a press conference the next day he had been moved from the Centro de Confinamiento del Terrorismo (CECOT) to a detention center in El Salvador's Santa Ana.

Go deeper: Supreme Court "perfectly clear" on returning deported Maryland man: Appeals court

Deportations could land government in contempt

A judge warned Wednesday that "probable cause exists" to hold the government in contempt for deporting people the administration has deemed Venezuelan gang members to El Salvador.

• Defying U.S. District Judge James Boasberg's order, the president invoked an 18th-century wartime authority last month to justify deporting some 250 migrants it accused of being members of the Tren de Aragua gang.
• Boasberg called the move "willful disregard" in a memorandum opinion on Wednesday.
• It's far from the only case that brings Trump administration officials before a judge in what many argue has been a presidency fought in court.

Other court actions involving the Trump administration:

• An appeals court denied the Trump administration's attempt to overturn a court decision to block a ban on transgender troops Friday. Go deeper.
• The Supreme Court will hear arguments next month on Trump's bid to end birthright citizenship, the court said Thursday. Go deeper.
• A federal agency referred New York Attorney General Letitia James for criminal prosecution Tuesday, alleging mortgage fraud. Go deeper.
• The Justice Department sued Maine on Wednesday for allowing trans athletes in girls' sports. Go deeper.
• A federal judge on Monday temporarily blocked the Trump administration from revoking a Biden-era migration program for people from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela. Go deeper.

Trump and DOGE push ahead with terminations

• Trump fired two of three board members of the National Credit Union Administration on Wednesday. Go deeper.
• He said Thursday that Fed chair Jerome Powell's "termination cannot come fast enough" after Powell criticized the president's tariffs. Go deeper.
• The Trump administration removed Gary Shapley as acting IRS commissioner, multiple outlets reported Friday. Go deeper.
• Trump is expected to announce Friday his administration is revamping "Schedule F," making it easier to cut federal workers. Go deeper.

Trump prioritizes Social Security rule already law

Trump signed a memorandum on Tuesday to curtail alleged Social Security fraud, despite lacking evidence of widespread impropriety.

• White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said the memorandum aims to restrict undocumented immigrants from receiving Social Security retirement benefits, which they are already legally barred from doing, Axios' Jason Lalljee writes.

Trump envoy meets in secret with Israeli officials

Two senior Israeli officials held a secret meeting in Paris on Friday with White House envoy Steve Witkoff to discuss the ongoing U.S.-Iran nuclear negotiations, sources told Axios' Barak Ravid.

• The meeting, which included strategic affairs minister Ron Dermer and Mossad chief David Barnea, was kept low profile and took place just before the second round of U.S.-Iran nuclear talks scheduled for Saturday in Rome.

Go deeper: Trump envoy quietly met Israeli officials ahead of Iran nuclear talks

Editor's note: This story has been updated to reflect details of Van Hollen's press conference and the latest news on Trump's attempted ban on transgender troops.

Easter eggflation is striking for the third straight year with prices elevated by the ongoing bird flu outbreak.

Why it matters: The sticker shock is leading some consumers to break traditions, like dyeing eggs, and driving them to swap ingredients in holiday meals.

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• 49% of consumers say egg prices are changing how they celebrate the holiday, according to a Ziff Davis shopping seasonal survey of 1,144 consumers.

The big picture: The average wholesale price of a dozen eggs was $3.13 Friday, up 2% from $3.08 on April 11, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture data.

• This is down more than $5 a dozen from the Feb. 21 national wholesale average of $8.15.
• Retail prices, which typically trail wholesale, are beginning to drift downward but bigger declines are expected after the holiday.
• The USDA report said demand for shell eggs improved ahead of Easter Sunday but was "driven more by holiday family traditions than price."

Zoom in: Easter is traditionally the second-hottest demand period of the year for eggs, and only trails the busy winter holidays, Brian Moscogiuri, a global trade strategist at Eggs Unlimited, previously told Axios.

• Eggs are a big part of Easter traditions and the Jewish holiday of Passover.
• Agricultural Secretary Brooke Rollins warned on March 11 that the Easter season has "the highest price for eggs" and prices could "inch back up."
• This year major retailers opted out of running their annual holiday egg promotions because supplies only recently recovered, the USDA report said.

Egg hunts switch to alternatives like "potato eggs"

The intrigue: Record-high egg prices in 2023 sprouted the idea of a budget-friendly Easter alternative: painting potatoes instead of eggs.

• Potatoes USA, the national marketing and promotion board representing U.S. growers and importers, has been looking to scramble the holiday traditions and has a has a how-to guide on painting the spuds.
• "Kids of all ages love that potatoes offer an easy, fun, and affordable way to get creative," said Kayla Vogel, a senior global marketing manager at Potatoes USA, noting decorating potatoes for Easter "just made sense.

Zoom out: Potatoes that are decorated with safe-for-consumption materials "can be enjoyed as a delicious treat once the artwork is complete," Potatoes USA said.

More from Axios:

• America's favorite Easter candy: Reese's Peanut Butter Eggs
• A daily weight-loss pill could transform GLP-1 boom
• Michaels expands into party space after Party City's exit

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