US cognitive warfare: How AI and Big Tech shaped the Iran strikes

2026-03-05 - 07:22

Dr. Emine Çelik / International Security Expert The United States' military campaign against Iran has revealed a new dimension of 21st-century warfare: cognitive operations powered by artificial intelligence and Silicon Valley's technological infrastructure. Beyond the bombs and missiles of "Operation Epic Fury," Washington simultaneously deployed psychological warfare tools aimed at the Iranian public's perception and the regime's internal cohesion, exemplified by President Trump's direct video appeal urging Iranians to "seize your government" and targeted SMS campaigns flooding Iranian phones. Structural Advantage and AI Arsenal America's dominance in cognitive warfare stems from a fundamental structural reality: nearly all major global social media platforms—Meta, X, Google—are US-based corporations, giving Washington unparalleled access to data flows and algorithmic control. This ecosystem, integrating private sector capabilities with defense and intelligence agencies, creates what analysts describe as an interactive warfare infrastructure. During the Iran strikes, AI-powered tools were deployed to amplify narratives of regime fragility, elite divisions, and protest visibility. The CIA's official X account began posting in Farsi, instructing Iranians on secure communication channels and encouraging transmission of images from critical regions via Telegram, effectively transforming civilian smartphones into intelligence collection nodes. Project Maven and Precision Targeting Project Maven, originally developed by Google to process massive data streams from US drones in the Middle East, has evolved into a sophisticated AI system capable of automatically identifying military targets from surveillance footage. After modernization by Palantir, Maven was reportedly used to map hidden underground bunker networks by processing radar signals and satellite imagery, enabling the precision strikes that characterized the operation against Iran's leadership. The system's ability to process vast amounts of intelligence data appears to have contributed to the successful targeting of senior commanders and nuclear facilities. The Mosaic System and Nuclear Infrastructure The Palantir-developed Mosaic platform played a crucial role in the June 2025 conflict and subsequent operations. Originally deployed to assist the International Atomic Energy Agency's verification mission in Iran, Mosaic analyzed approximately 400 million "digital objects" worldwide, including social media feeds and satellite photos. Crucially, the system was reportedly tasked with processing tens of thousands of sensitive documents stolen by Mossad, creating visual maps linking nuclear facilities, personnel, and materials. The subsequent wave of assassinations targeting Iranian nuclear scientists and Revolutionary Guard commanders suggests this intelligence was directly operationalized, raising questions about whether Mosaic-derived data enabled US and Israeli forces to identify and eliminate key regime figures. The New Battlefield In 21st-century conflict architecture, superiority increasingly belongs not to those who control territory, but those who control minds. America's cognitive warfare advantage derives not merely from propaganda production but from its position at the center of the global digital infrastructure. As Operation Epic Fury demonstrated, the integration of bot networks, targeted content, and potentially deepfake imagery creates a digital amplification capable of preparing cognitive battlefields before the first bomb falls. The question now is whether rival powers can develop comparable capabilities or whether cognitive dominance will remain an American monopoly.