Threat Intelligence

OpenAI Shuts Down Russian Influence Campaign Using ChatGPT

The Hacker News · 26 Aug 2026

Key Takeaway Train staff and customers to critically evaluate suspicious social media content, as AI tools are increasingly being used to create convincing fake posts and disinformation.

OpenAI has banned a cluster of ChatGPT accounts traced to Russia after discovering they were being used to run a covert influence operation. According to the company, the operators used VPNs to get around geographic access restrictions and used the AI tool to generate social media posts and comments promoting the International Burke Institute (IBI).

The fake or coordinated content was then spread across multiple platforms, including Substack, Telegram, X, Facebook and LinkedIn, in an apparent attempt to shape public opinion and lend credibility to the group's messaging. This is part of a broader pattern of state-linked and opportunistic actors experimenting with generative AI tools to scale up disinformation campaigns more cheaply and convincingly than before.

For Australian small businesses, this may seem like a big-tech and geopolitics story, but the underlying risk is closer to home. AI-generated content is becoming harder to distinguish from genuine posts, making it easier for scammers and bad actors to impersonate brands, spread fake reviews, or manipulate customers and staff through convincing fake messaging on the same platforms businesses use every day.

AI security disinformation OpenAI social media risk

Summarised by CISO AI from The Hacker News. We link back to every original so you can read it yourself.