OpenAI Bans Russian ChatGPT Accounts Used to Run Influence Operation

OpenAI on Tuesday said it banned a cluster of Russian ChatGPT accounts that used VPNs to bypass access restrictions and run an influence operation, which relied on its artificial intelligence (AI) tool to generate social media posts and comments that were shared on Substack, Telegram, X, Facebook and LinkedIn.

The accounts "were being used to promote the International Burke Institute (IBI), a self-described 'expert community' based in Israel," the company said.

"What began as an investigation into AI-generated social media posts led us to a much broader influence operation, built around a website containing copied and misattributed academic work, a 'sovereignty' index that cast Russia in a favourable light, and efforts to disguise the operators' Russian origins."

The campaign is assessed to have reached "relatively small audiences," with Telegram channels attracting more users and amassing about 10-20,000 followers each. The majority of the generated content was in English and the operators instructed ChatGPT to conceal any linguistic clues that could allude to their Russian provenance.

The IBI brand is associated with a website ("ibi[.]institute") that was registered in February 2025. It claims to be a community of leading experts from across the world in matters of economics, politics, sociology and international relations.