WASHINGTON: OpenAI said on Thursday it had disrupted an Iranian AI influence campaign that placed nearly 100 articles under fake journalist identities across online publications worldwide.
OpenAI has banned a network of accounts linked to Iranian and Russian propaganda campaigns that used ChatGPT to generate fake news, deceptive articles, and social media commentary.
The company banned a cluster of ChatGPT accounts linked to the operation. It identified seven deceptive author identities and found articles published or syndicated by roughly a dozen outlets.
OpenAI said operators used Persian-language prompts to edit articles, prepare pitches for editors and generate social media comments.
The campaign, which OpenAI named “Bogus Bylines”, focused largely on criticism of US policies and military operations against Iran. However, the company could not establish who financed or directed the activity.
It found no conclusive evidence linking the operators to the Iranian government. OpenAI assessed that the activity resembled a commercial influence operation offering services to clients.
The articles appeared in London-based Middle East Monitor and the US outlet LA Progressive. One article questioned Jared Kushner’s influence on American policy towards Iran.
Another criticised Western claims of moral credibility during the conflict. After securing publication, operators used ChatGPT to prepare comments for social media accounts posing as ordinary readers.
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These comments portrayed Washington as responsible for the conflict, questioned Israel’s reliability as a US ally and presented Iran as resisting foreign aggression.
Meanwhile, Middle East Monitor director Daud Abdullah told CNN he would investigate the flagged articles and take appropriate action.
Former US intelligence official Jessica Brandt warned that artificial intelligence could help foreign influence operators conceal their identities while reaching audiences through established publications. OpenAI said the accounts involved in the campaign had been banned.
