A network originating in Russia used ChatGPT to promote the International Burke Institute, and 34 of 36 articles reviewed on the institute’s website were copied or misattributed. [Source: Provided Content]
OpenAI banned a group of accounts whose operators used Russian-language prompts to generate social media posts and comments, mostly in English, linked to that promotion. [Source: Provided Content]
The operation attempted to conceal its Russian origin and, while elaborately constructed, reached relatively small audiences. [Source: Provided Content]
The network employed ChatGPT to generate content promoting the International Burke Institute, using Russian-language prompts to create English-language posts that masked their origin. To operate within Russia’s restricted internet environment, the group utilized VPNs, masking their location since ChatGPT is inaccessible in Russia. They crafted convincing profiles and accounts to disseminate the content as though from genuine users or academics. Despite this sophisticated setup, the effort only managed to engage small audiences.
A significant aspect of this operation was the extent of article copying. Out of 36 articles on the institute’s website, 34 were found to be duplicated, with inaccurate attributions, including a piece on the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, which was improperly credited from a Cambridge University Press original to a University of Nottingham professor. This meticulous yet misguided attribution led to several discrepancies, marking the operation as distinct from previous influence attempts, as described in the source: “Some of these articles were years old; others were attributed to the wrong authors.”
OpenAI identified a separate Russia-linked campaign in 2024 called Doppelganger. Doppelganger used ChatGPT to create articles, social media posts, and comments that praised Russia and attacked Ukraine, NATO, and the United States. OpenAI also described a group called Forest Blizzard as tied to Russian military intelligence. Forest Blizzard used the chatbot to research targets, write scripts, and support phishing attacks.
OpenAI did not attribute the International Burke Institute campaign directly to the Russian government. Some people in Israel may have represented the institute at conferences or through article submissions, and OpenAI said it could not determine how those individuals were connected to the operation. “We are not in a position to determine the relationship between these individuals, the IBI, and the operators in Russia.”
The reporting describes a Russia-linked ChatGPT influence operation that employed academic masquerading to promote the International Burke Institute while operating alongside other identified Russia-linked campaigns and attracting scrutiny from researchers. Although the campaign displayed an unusually elaborate, coordinated construction, investigators have not resolved the exact affiliations or the nature of relationships among the individuals and organizations involved, leaving substantive uncertainties.
