OpenAI Removes Accounts Linked to Malicious AI Use in China

OpenAI has removed the accounts of users from China and North Korea whom the artificial intelligence company believes were exploiting its technology for malicious purposes, including surveillance and opinion-influence operations.

According to OpenAI, such activities represent ways in which authoritarian regimes might attempt to leverage AI against the United States as well as their citizens. The company stated in a report that it employed AI tools to detect these operations.

No details were provided regarding the number of accounts banned or the timeframe over which the action took place.

In one case, users instructed ChatGPT to generate news articles in Spanish that criticised the United States. These articles were subsequently published by mainstream news outlets in Latin America under a Chinese company’s byline.

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In another instance, malicious actors potentially linked to North Korea used AI to generate CVs and online profiles for fictitious job applicants, aiming to fraudulently secure employment at Western companies.

Additionally, a group of ChatGPT accounts, seemingly connected to a financial fraud operation based in Cambodia, used OpenAI’s technology to translate and generate content across social media and communication platforms, including X and Facebook.

The U.S. government has voiced concerns over China’s alleged use of artificial intelligence to suppress its population, spread misinformation, and compromise the security of the United States and its allies.

OpenAI’s ChatGPT is the most widely used AI chatbot, with its weekly active users exceeding 400 million. The company is currently in discussions to raise up to $40 billion at a valuation of $300 billion, potentially marking a record-breaking funding round for a private company.