OpenAI has banned a group of ChatGPT accounts linked to an Iranian influence operation that generated content about the US presidential election, according to a Blog entry On Friday, the company said the operation created AI-generated articles and social media posts, though it does not appear to have reached a wide audience.
This is not the first time OpenAI has banned accounts linked to state-affiliated actors using ChatGPT maliciously. In May, the company disrupted five campaigns Using ChatGPT to manipulate public opinion.
These episodes are reminiscent of State actors using social media platforms Like Facebook and Twitter, they have attempted to influence previous election cycles. Now, similar (or perhaps the same) groups are using generative AI to flood social channels with misinformation. Like social media companies, OpenAI appears to be taking a “whack-a-mole” approach, banning accounts associated with these initiatives as they emerge.
OpenAI says its investigation of this group of accounts benefited from a Microsoft Threat Intelligence Report published last week, which identified the group (which it calls Storm-2035) as part of a broader campaign to influence the US election that has been operating since 2020.
Microsoft said Storm-2035 is an Iranian network with multiple sites that mimic media outlets and “actively engage groups of American voters on opposite ends of the political spectrum with polarizing messages on issues such as the American presidential candidates, LGBTQ rights, and the Israel-Hamas conflict.” The strategy, as has been shown in other operations, is not necessarily to promote one policy or another, but to sow dissent and conflict.
OpenAI identified five websites that could serve as fronts for Storm-2035, which present themselves as progressive and conservative media outlets with convincing domain names like “evenpolitics.com.” The group used ChatGPT to write several lengthy articles, including one that claimed that “X censors Trump’s tweets” — something Elon Musk’s platform certainly hasn’t done (if anything, Musk is encouraging former President Donald Trump to engage more on X).
On social media, OpenAI identified a dozen X accounts and one Instagram account controlled by this operation. The company claims that ChatGPT was used to rewrite several political comments, which were then posted on these platforms. One of these tweets falsely and confusingly claimed that Kamala Harris attributes “rising immigration costs” to climate change, followed by “#DumpKamala.”
OpenAI says it saw no evidence that Storm-2035’s articles were widely shared, noting that most of its social media posts received few to no likes, shares, or comments. This is typically the case with these operations, which are quick and cheap to launch using AI tools like ChatGPT. Expect to see many more notices like this as the election approaches and partisan online bickering intensifies.
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