OpenAI disclosed Thursday it shut down two influence operations from Russia and Iran that used ChatGPT and other AI tools to create fake journalist personas and covert think tanks that successfully planted stories and narratives in mainstream news publications.
One cluster of accounts, which OpenAI calls “Dark Clark,” is attributed to Russian actors. The network focused on influencing Latin American politics and culture. Its name comes from Mia Clark, a fake AI persona the group presented as the leader of the Social Research Center, a supposed Latin American think tank used to seed propaganda in news reporting.
The group’s content primarily focused on harming Ukraine’s reputation in Latin America, though it also became involved in hot-button political issues in Argentina and Bolivia.
Based on reports generated through ChatGPT, where operatives discussed wage scales for employees and hiring and firing decisions, OpenAI researchers said it’s likely the Russian group was actually in control of the Social Research Center, rather than being an employee or observer.
OpenAI called it “the most complex attempt to run a front identity that we’ve disrupted over the past two and a half years.”
“The available evidence indicates that the SRC’s employees in Latin America were not aware that they were working for a Russian group,” OpenAI said. “Unlike another Russia-linked ‘think tank’ that we recently exposed, the SRC appears to have produced a majority of original content via its co-opted staff.”
OpenAI cites several fact-checks and official denials from major media organizations and government officials in Latin America that appear to be in response to Dark Clark’s propaganda.
In March, Lupa Media reported on a TikTok video falsely claiming that the Ecuadorian government was using shell companies to recruit citizens to fight for Ukraine against Russia. The actors also generated and spread fake audio clips of the Ukrainian consul in Ecuador insulting Ecuadorian citizens.