OpenAI Reveals China-Linked Influence Campaign

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OpenAI (OPENAI) has revealed it banned China-linked accounts that used ChatGPT to generate social media content to stir up opposition to AI data centers in the U.S. and President Donald Trump’s tariffs. The company published its findings to help the AI industry, governments and the public “better identify and disrupt attempts by foreign threat actors to manipulate legitimate public debates.”

Foreign interference: OpenAI found a cluster of ChatGPT accounts from China that generated social media content “claiming that data center buildouts for AI were increasing electricity prices for average families.” The accounts were likely part of a social media operations team at a private Chinese tech firm conducting work for provincial-level government clients. OpenAI found another cluster of accounts that generated content criticizing U.S. tariffs as “attempts to dominate technological competition.” Their prompts specified that the content should only include Trump and not Xi Jinping. OpenAI could not establish the accounts’ institutional affiliation. “This cluster was connected to a network of likely inauthentic social media accounts that were also likely targeting OpenAI by claiming ChatGPT user data had been compromised,” it stated. “These allegations were entirely false.”

Bigger picture: To note, OpenAI bars its services in China and the accounts it mentioned used VPNs to access its platform. “Most of the social media posts we identified generated little or no observable engagement,” the company said, but warned that the campaigns’ “significance lies in what they reveal about the intentions of influence operators from China” and the narratives they seek to amplify. “Both clusters attempted to connect U.S. technology policies and industries to everyday economic anxieties and geopolitical instability,” OpenAI noted. “It is ironic that the two operations used American AI, rather than Chinese models, to generate their content about American AI.” China’s embassy in the U.S. told Reuters it was not familiar with OpenAI’s findings but said, “We firmly ​oppose any groundless attacks or smears against China.”

Latest on IPO: In other news, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman told staff that he expects the startup to go public within the next year. “Many things could cause it to be sooner or later ‌in that range, but filing now gives ​us optionality if we want to go sooner,” he said. The company this week revealed that it confidentially filed for an IPO, but said the listing may take time “because there are things we want to do that are likely easier as a private company.” Altman indicated that delaying the IPO could be advantageous if AI can achieve recursive self-improvement, referring to the ability of an AI system to create new models on its own. He also said OpenAI is preparing to launch a tender offer “very soon” at the current share price of $687.69. OpenAI: Mega IPO Faces Anthropic Claude Mythos Reckoning

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On The Calendar

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