OpenAI Terminated Several Accounts Involved in Public Opinion Manipulation

On May 30, the company confirmed that it had shut down five separate accounts tied to "covert influence" operations over the past three months.

These operations exploited artificial intelligence (AI) to produce article comments, create fake social media profiles, and assist in translating and proofreading content.

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One notable campaign, dubbed "Bad Grammar," utilized OpenAI's technology to operate Telegram bots and generate political commentary, focused on influencing audiences in Ukraine, Moldova, the Baltic States, and the United States. Similarly, the Russian operation "Doppelganger" used AI to produce English, French, German, Italian, and Polish comments posted on platforms like X and 9GAG to manipulate public opinion.

Another notable campaign by the Chinese network "Spamouflage" used OpenAI to generate multilingual content across various platforms, including X, Medium, and Blogspot.

The content posted by these various operations focused on a wide range of issues, including Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the conflict in Gaza, the Indian elections, politics in Europe and the United States, and criticisms of the Chinese government by Chinese dissidents and foreign governments.  

Ben Nimmo, a principal investigator at OpenAI and the report's author, emphasized the importance of these findings. Speaking to The New York Times, he remarked:

Our case studies provide examples from some of the most widely reported and longest-running influence campaigns that are currently active.

Despite these efforts, OpenAI concluded that these influence operations did not achieve notable increases in audience engagement or reach through their services. The company continues to monitor and counteract the misuse of AI to ensure the credibility of public discussions.

In other news related to OpenAI, a former board member has recently claimed that Sam Altman was fired as the company's CEO due to misleading the board on several occasions.

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