OpenAI disrupts Iranian for-hire influence campaign that placed ChatGPT-written articles in about a dozen outlets
OpenAI says users writing to ChatGPT in Persian generated articles published under seven fake bylines, one of which reached a local Florida newspaper. It also banned Russian accounts tied to a fake Latin American think tank.
OpenAI said on 9 October 2026 that it had disrupted an Iranian influence operation that used ChatGPT to write articles later published across roughly a dozen publications, The Verge reports, citing The Washington Post.
Key points
- The articles appeared under seven bylines; one fake author, “Ervin Hoskins,” landed a piece in a local Florida newspaper.
- The users gave the chatbot instructions in Persian.
- OpenAI described the effort as apparently run by a commercial outfit as a “for-hire influence campaign.”
- Separately, OpenAI banned Russian accounts linked to a fake “think tank” targeting Latin America.
Context
AI labs regularly publish threat reports on misuse of their models. Such cases show that AI-generated content can slip past editorial checks at smaller outlets; OpenAI’s account is the company’s own and has not been independently verified in full.
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