OpenAI said it banned a group of Russian ChatGPT accounts that used VPNs to bypass access restrictions and support an online influence campaign.
The accounts were used to promote the International Burke Institute (IBI), an group that describes itself as an expert community based in Israel. OpenAI said the operators used ChatGPT to create social media posts and comments shared on Telegram, X, Facebook, LinkedIn and Substack.
The campaign reached relatively small audiences, although some Telegram channels had between 10,000 and 20,000 followers. Most of the content was written in English, with operators asking ChatGPT to remove signs that could reveal their Russian origins.
OpenAI said the campaign was connected to a website linked to IBI that published academic material, some of which appeared to be copied or falsely attributed. The company found no evidence that the website's articles were written with ChatGPT.
“As well as generating content about IBI, one of the operators generated German-language posts that were posted on a Telegram channel called “Lahme Ente” (“lame duck”). These posts routinely criticized Ukraine, the EU and the German government, and advocated for better relations with Russia,” OpenAI said.
OpenAI said the operation was separate from other known Russia-linked influence campaigns. It is notable because AI helped create a credible-looking institution with experts, academic work, and a risk index.
“This illustrates how influence actors can use AI as a supporting tool within a broader effort to manufacture authority, obscure the source of favored narratives, and establish assets that could be scaled over time. It also illustrates how their supporting use of AI can lead to the broader operation being exposed,” the company noted.