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In a first, OpenAI removes influence operations tied to Russia, China and Israel
AI tools have helped the people behind influence operations produce more
content, but OpenAI says the operations it disrupted didn’t gain traction with
real people or reach large audiences.
Special Series


UNTANGLING DISINFORMATION


IN A FIRST, OPENAI REMOVES INFLUENCE OPERATIONS TIED TO RUSSIA, CHINA AND ISRAEL

May 31, 20246:57 AM ET
Heard on Morning Edition

Shannon Bond

IN A FIRST, OPENAI REMOVES INFLUENCE OPERATIONS TIED TO RUSSIA, CHINA AND ISRAEL

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OpenAI, the company behind generative artificial intelligence tools such as
ChatGPT, announced Thursday that it had taken down influence operations tied to
Russia, China and Iran. Stefani Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption
Stefani Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images

Online influence operations based in Russia, China, Iran, and Israel are using
artificial intelligence in their efforts to manipulate the public, according to
a new report from OpenAI.

Bad actors have used OpenAI’s tools, which include ChatGPT, to generate social
media comments in multiple languages, make up names and bios for fake accounts,
create cartoons and other images, and debug code.


UNTANGLING DISINFORMATION


CHINA'S INFLUENCE OPERATIONS AGAINST THE U.S. ARE BIGGER THAN TIKTOK

OpenAI’s report is the first of its kind from the company, which has swiftly
become one of the leading players in AI. ChatGPT has gained more than 100
million users since its public launch in November 2022.

But even though AI tools have helped the people behind influence operations
produce more content, make fewer errors, and create the appearance of engagement
with their posts, OpenAI says the operations it found didn’t gain significant
traction with real people or reach large audiences. In some cases, the little
authentic engagement their posts got was from users calling them out as fake.

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UNTANGLING DISINFORMATION


AI FAKES RAISE ELECTION RISKS AS LAWMAKERS AND TECH COMPANIES SCRAMBLE TO CATCH
UP

“These operations may be using new technology, but they're still struggling with
the old problem of how to get people to fall for it,” said Ben Nimmo, principal
investigator on OpenAI’s intelligence and investigations team.

That echoes Facebook owner Meta’s quarterly threat report published on
Wednesday. Meta's report said several of the covert operations it recently took
down used AI to generate images, video, and text, but that the use of the
cutting-edge technology hasn’t affected the company’s ability to disrupt efforts
to manipulate people.


UNTANGLING DISINFORMATION


TECH GIANTS PLEDGE ACTION AGAINST DECEPTIVE AI IN ELECTIONS

The boom in generative artificial intelligence, which can quickly and easily
produce realistic audio, video, images and text, is creating new avenues for
fraud, scams and manipulation. In particular, the potential for AI fakes to
disrupt elections is fueling fears as billions of people around the world head
to the polls this year, including in the U.S., India, and the European Union.


UNTANGLING DISINFORMATION


U.S. ELECTIONS FACE MORE THREATS FROM FOREIGN ACTORS AND ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

In the past three months, OpenAI banned accounts linked to five covert influence
operations, which it defines as “attempt[s] to manipulate public opinion or
influence political outcomes without revealing the true identity or intentions
of the actors behind them.”

That includes two operations well known to social media companies and
researchers: Russia’s Doppelganger and a sprawling Chinese network dubbed
Spamouflage.


UNTANGLING DISINFORMATION


META SAYS CHINESE, RUSSIAN INFLUENCE OPERATIONS ARE AMONG THE BIGGEST IT'S TAKEN
DOWN

Doppelganger, which has been linked to the Kremlin by the U.S. Treasury
Department, is known for spoofing legitimate news websites to undermine support
for Ukraine. Spamouflage operates across a wide range of social media platforms
and internet forums, pushing pro-China messages and attacking critics of
Beijing. Last year, Facebook owner Meta said Spamouflage is the largest covert
influence operation it's ever disrupted and linked it to Chinese law
enforcement.

Both Doppelganger and Spamouflage used OpenAI tools to generate comments in
multiple languages that were posted across social media sites. The Russian
network also used AI to translate articles from Russian into English and French
and to turn website articles into Facebook posts.


UNTANGLING DISINFORMATION


FACEBOOK TAKES DOWN RUSSIAN NETWORK IMPERSONATING EUROPEAN NEWS OUTLETS

The Spamouflage accounts used AI to debug code for a website targeting Chinese
dissidents, to analyze social media posts, and to research news and current
events. Some posts from fake Spamouflage accounts only received replies from
other fake accounts in the same network.

Another previously unreported Russian network banned by OpenAI focused its
efforts on spamming the messaging app Telegram. It used OpenAI tools to debug
code for a program that automatically posted on Telegram, and used AI to
generate the comments its accounts posted on the app. Like Doppelganger, the
operation's efforts were broadly aimed at undermining support for Ukraine, via
posts that weighed in on politics in the U.S. and Moldova.


UKRAINE INVASION — EXPLAINED


TELEGRAM IS THE APP OF CHOICE IN THE WAR IN UKRAINE DESPITE EXPERTS' PRIVACY
CONCERNS

Another campaign that both OpenAI and Meta said they disrupted in recent months
traced back to a political marketing firm in Tel Aviv called Stoic. Fake
accounts posed as Jewish students, African-Americans, and concerned citizens.
They posted about the war in Gaza, praised Israel’s military, and criticized
college antisemitism and the U.N. relief agency for Palestinian refugees in the
Gaza Strip, according to Meta. The posts were aimed at audiences in the U.S.,
Canada, and Israel. Meta banned Stoic from its platforms and sent the company a
cease and desist letter.



OpenAI said the Israeli operation used AI to generate and edit articles and
comments posted across Instagram, Facebook, and X, as well as to create
fictitious personas and bios for fake accounts. It also found some activity from
the network targeting elections in India.

None of the operations OpenAI disrupted only used AI-generated content. “This
wasn't a case of giving up on human generation and shifting to AI, but of mixing
the two,” Nimmo said.

He said that while AI does offer threat actors some benefits, including boosting
the volume of what they can produce and improving translations across languages,
it doesn’t help them overcome the main challenge of distribution.

“You can generate the content, but if you don't have the distribution systems to
land it in front of people in a way that seems credible, then you're going to
struggle getting it across,” Nimmo said. “And really what we're seeing here is
that dynamic playing out.”

But companies like OpenAI must stay vigilant, he added. "This is not the time
for complacency. History shows that influence operations which spent years
failing to get anywhere can suddenly break out if nobody's looking for them."

 * OpenAI
 * artificial intelligence
 * Russia
 * China

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