A campaign that reached officials
OpenAI called the Russian operation “Dark Clark.” It spread disinformation in Latin America to discredit Ukraine and destabilize local politics. Its operators controlled a think tank through a fictional character and probably recruited local staff without telling them who they were working for.
Fake audio recordings and documents triggered fact-checks and official denials in Ecuador and Peru. OpenAI gave the campaign 5 out of 6 on its breakthrough scale because politicians reacted to the published material. The company said this was the first case at that level in the two and a half years it has been publishing reports.
Fake bylines, real outlets
The Iran-linked “Bogus Bylines” operation used seven fake journalists to place nearly 100 articles about the conflict between the United States and Iran in online publications around the world. Its operators also wrote social-media comments, which drew little attention.
Both operations used AI mainly for internal reporting and to adapt propaganda for different languages. The tools were not the point of either campaign; the distribution was.
The reach matters more than the tool
I think the contrast in outcomes is more revealing than the shared use of AI. One operation produced material that prompted political responses; the other got articles published but failed to draw much notice with its comments. OpenAI’s score describes the first campaign’s impact, not a general measure of how persuasive AI-generated propaganda is.
The announcement leaves a harder question unanswered: how much of the reach came from the fabricated content, and how much from the outlets and people who carried it? If the content can pass through genuine media channels, the boundary between an online influence operation and ordinary publication becomes much harder to see.
Daily AI news
Every day we pick what actually matters in AI and explain it plainly — no hype, no filler. Subscribe if you want to follow where the industry is going.
Only what matters — every day
Follow on X