OpenAI says it has removed the accounts of several users linked to China, which were used to generate propaganda material published in mainstream newspapers in Latin America.

In an updated report spotted by Reuters, OpenAI pointed to a number of incidents where it believes that ChatGPT was used to generate Spanish-language newspaper articles criticizing the US, which were then published in well-known newspapers in Mexico, Peru and Ecuador. The articles centered on political divisions in the United States and current affairs, in particular the topics of drug use and homelessness.

The users reportedly prompted ChatGPT to generate the Spanish-language articles in Chinese, during mainland Chinese working hours. OpenAI noted that they used ChatGPT to translate receipts from Latin American newspapers, indicating the articles may well have been paid placements.

ChatGPT was also allegedly used by the accounts to generate short-form material, including comments critical of Cai Xia, a well-known Chinese political dissident, which were then posted on X by users claiming to be from the US or India.

OpenAI believes some of the activity was consistent with the covert influence operation known as “Spamouflage.” This was a major Chinese disinformation operation that was spotted on over 50 social media platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, and Reddit. The campaign, identified by Meta in 2023, targeted users in the US, Taiwan, UK, Australia, and Japan with positive information about China.

This isn’t the first time OpenAI has come clean about how its tools have been used for the propaganda efforts of foreign powers. In May 2024 OpenAI reported on how groups based in Russia, China, Iran and Israel used the company’s AI models to generate short comments on social media, as well as translate and proofread text in various languages.

For example, a Russian propaganda group known as Bad Grammar used OpenAI’s technology to generate fake replies about Ukraine to specific posts on Telegram in English and Russian.

But though we’ve seen international propaganda groups leverage OpenAI’s tool before, OpenAI thinks the recent incident is unique due to its targeting of mainstream media, calling this “a previously unreported line of effort, which ran in parallel to more typical social media activity, and may have reached a significantly wider audience.”

About Will McCurdy

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I’m a reporter covering weekend news. Before joining PCMag in 2024, I picked up bylines in BBC News, The Guardian, The Times of London, The Daily Beast, Vice, Slate, Fast Company, The Evening Standard, The i, TechRadar, and Decrypt Media.

I’ve been a PC gamer since you had to install games from multiple CD-ROMs by hand. As a reporter, I’m passionate about the intersection of tech and human lives. I’ve covered everything from crypto scandals to the art world, as well as conspiracy theories, UK politics, and Russia and foreign affairs.

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