OpenAI, the organization behind ChatGPT, has disrupted covert influence campaigns that were generating content related to the Gaza conflict and the Indian elections. According to OpenAI, in the last three months, they have disrupted covert influence operations that aimed to use artificial intelligence (AI) models to promote the actions of dishonest and abusive individuals online. These operations were linked to operators in China, Iran, Russia (two networks), and a commercial company in Israel.
The Israeli commercial company initially targeted audiences in Canada, the US, and Israel with content in Hebrew and English. However, in early May, they shifted their focus to India, producing English-language online articles and social media posts critical of the ruling BJP party, as highlighted in OpenAI’s report “AI and Covert Influence Operations: Latest Trends.”
The report stated, “This operation was divided into a number of topical campaigns, most of which were loosely associated with the Gaza conflict and the broader question of relations between individuals of Jewish and Muslim faith. In May, we disrupted some activity focused on the Indian elections less than 24 hours after it began.”
“Finally, in May, the network began generating comments that focused on India, criticized the ruling BJP party and praised the opposition Congress party. Sometimes, the network appears to have flipped its accounts from one topic to another – for example, accounts that had earlier posted about Canada switched focus to the USA, India or the Histadrut (or more than one of these),” it added.
The report also noted that some of the content posted on social media was in reply to prominent Western figures. “Some of the content created by this network was posted on social media in reply to prominent Western figures on both sides of the political spectrum. These replies generally bore no relation to the original post. For example, one comment about Qatar ‘buying up’ America was posted in reply to a post about former President Trump’s musical preferences,” the report read.
The Lok Sabha elections in India are being held in seven phases, with the counting of votes scheduled for June 4. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, is seeking a third consecutive term in power, while the Opposition INDIA bloc aims to wrest back power from the incumbent BJP. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is seeking his third term from Varanasi, where he won with significant margins in 2014 and 2019.