OpenAI has taken action against a number of ChatGPT accounts linked to Russia, citing their involvement in a secret online influence campaign aimed at disseminating misinformation.
This discovery came to light during an examination of social media posts generated by AI, which revealed a much larger influence operation, according to OpenAI's blog update on Tuesday.
The initiative was reportedly centered around a website featuring plagiarized and inaccurately attributed academic content, a 'sovereignty' index that portrayed Russia in a positive manner, and attempts to obscure the Russian identities of the campaign operators.
This incident highlights the ongoing trend of pro-Russia entities leveraging AI for misinformation purposes. While OpenAI restricts access to its models within Russia, the organization noted that users employed VPNs to mask their true locations.
Earlier this year, the company also disabled ChatGPT accounts associated with Rybar, a pro-Russia media outlet that the UK government has linked to Russian intelligence operations and which is partially funded by the state corporation Rostec.
CNBC has reached out to the Russian embassy in London and Russia's Foreign Ministry for their response.
