OpenAI confirmed Thursday that it banned several accounts tied to two separate propaganda operations based in Iran and Russia, because nothing says "responsible AI stewardship" like playing whack-a-mole with geopolitical chaos agents. The Russian operation, notably, had the greatest reach the company has recorded since it started reporting and disrupting such schemes - a milestone nobody asked for.

The influence operations used OpenAI's models alongside "more traditional techniques and technologies to support sophisticated 'false front' entities," covertly pushing each country's political agenda. The plots involved using AI to create and spread fake news stories and to operate a fraudulent think tank - which is honestly just a normal think tank with extra steps.

"They used those entities to launder geopolitical, conflict-related messaging into their target audiences," OpenAI wrote, in a sentence that would be alarming if it weren't so exhausting. "The Iranian operation included a stable of seven 'journalist' personas which it used to pitch long-form articles to small and medium online outlets around the world; the Russian operation appears to have co-opted unwitting people in Latin America to run a 'think tank' on the ground."

Because why hire actual journalists when you can generate seven of them and still miss deadline?

OpenAI noted the operations were "trying a range of different tactics to achieve their goals." The Iranian operation generated social media comments about the U.S.'s war with the Islamic Republic, while the Russian operation created fake "leaked" documents and audio scripts - including some that "undermine[d] recruitment for the Ukrainian Armed Forces."

The Russian operation, which OpenAI dubbed "Dark Clark" after a fake persona created for the scheme, also "fed into public tensions between Ukraine and Poland." As part of the plot, they generated reports tied to the "Social Research Center," a faux think tank that recruited employees throughout Latin America and tricked institutions across the region. So, a fake think tank running on real people. Very meta.

The Iranian plot, called "Bogus Bylines," used VPNs to disguise users' locations and generate various "American freelance writer" personas, though transparency settings helpfully located the accounts in Iran. Those running the accounts then generated false stories about the U.S.-Iran war under these personas and flooded social media with geopolitical commentary - in both English and Persian. Bilingual misinformation: truly a global effort.

"Both operations also made heavy use of AI to draft internal reports," OpenAI added, noting the Russian operation did this more than anything else. "In both cases, the actors used questionable or outright deceitful methodologies to exaggerate the operators' effectiveness." Ah yes, lying about your lying. The ouroboros of propaganda.

In 2025, OpenAI similarly reported that U.S. foreign adversaries were using ChatGPT with other AI models to "achieve their arms," citing another Russian cyber operation that posted AI-generated content across various platforms.

The latest report arrives as the American public's trust in AI - and in lawmakers' ability to handle its development - continues its race to the bottom. In a recent Reuters/Ipsos survey, 57 percent of respondents said they believe the Trump administration is not taking the risks posed by AI seriously enough, while 54 percent said the same of Congress. So, a majority distrust both branches. Refreshingly bipartisan.

The Trump administration has largely favored voluntary safeguards over sweeping federal regulations. President Trump invited key AI industry leaders to the White House last week, where CEOs from Nvidia, Anthropic, Google, Meta and SpaceXAI agreed to a "morally-binding" self-policing pledge involving safety measures like external reviews of their AI systems. Critics say they don't trust these companies to self-regulate - because of course they don't. "Morally-binding" is doing a lot of heavy lifting there.

OpenAI stated that reporting on AI-based influence operations like those exposed Thursday will hopefully make "further research and disruption" easier for the company to prevent similar schemes in the future, adding that these reports have in some cases deterred such activity. Because nothing deters a troll quite like a blog post.