OpenAI cracked down on threat actors in Russia and Iran that made use of the company’s chatbot to support “false front” entities designed to carry out covert influence operations around the world.
The frontier artificial intelligence lab disclosed its efforts in a safety report on Thursday as the general public’s concerns about the advanced technology abound.
Those behind the Russian operation ran a supposed think tank as a front organization in Latin America and created fake leaked documents and audio scripts. The foreign actors used ChatGPT to undermine “Ukraine’s reputation in the region” or influence “local political outcomes,” OpenAI said.
Meanwhile, the Iranian operation involved seven fake journalist personas that were used to pitch long-form articles to news outlets. The articles in question focused on the U.S. war against Iran, according to OpenAI. The operation, which the AI firm dubbed “Bogus Bylines,” also generated social media comments on the geopolitical conflict.
OpenAI banned numerous ChatGPT accounts that originated in Russia and Iran. Both operations, particularly the one in Russia, made use of the chatbot to draft internal reports.
The company said the goal of the influence operations was to “launder geopolitical, conflict-related messaging into their target audiences.” OpenAI explained that by reporting the “false front” operations, it hopes to “make further research and disruption easier — and make continuing the operations harder.”
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OpenAI and Anthropic, two of the top AI developers in the United States, have been committed to the principle of transparency in light of recent events that worried lawmakers and consumers about the future of the technology.
Like its competitor, Anthropic has released similar safety reports. The company’s latest threat intelligence report raised the alarm about how foreign actors have misused its frontier AI models to research and develop biological weapons, among other areas of concern.