OpenAI Purges ChatGPT of Suspected Malicious Accounts from China and North Korea

OpenAI has suspended accounts of users in China and North Korea who allegedly used the company’s technology for malicious purposes, including surveillance and campaigns to influence public opinion. In a statement, OpenAI said that authoritarian regimes can use artificial intelligence to harm the United States and their own citizens. It noted that a special AI algorithm was used to identify suspicious activity.

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The company did not say how many accounts were blocked or how long it has been looking for accounts whose owners are potentially engaged in malicious activity. The statement said that in one such case, a ChatGPT user generated Spanish-language news articles aimed at denigrating the United States, which were then published by news outlets in Latin America on behalf of a Chinese company.

In the second case, the attackers, allegedly linked to North Korea, used artificial intelligence to create resumes and online profiles of fictitious job seekers to get jobs at Western companies. A group of accounts belonging to users from Cambodia and linked to financial fraud were also identified. They were used to translate and publish comments on various social networks, including X and Facebook✴.

The US government has expressed concern that China is allegedly using artificial intelligence to control public opinion in the country, as well as to spread disinformation and undermine the security of the US and its allies. Recall that OpenAI’s ChatGPT is the most popular AI bot with 400 million weekly active users. The company is in talks to raise up to $40 billion, valuing OpenAI at $300 billion, which could be a record funding round for a private company.