A Chinese official's fatal mistake. ChatGPT revealed a secret service operation

A Chinese official, treating ChatGPT as a business journal, unwittingly revealed the behind-the-scenes of the massive operation of harassment of dissidents around the world by the PRC authorities, according to a report published by the software developer, OpenAI. The scale of activities included, among others: impersonating US officials.

The officer used an AI tool to edit “digital special operations” reports, which allowed OpenAI researchers to identify an entire network consisting of hundreds of operators and thousands of fake accounts.

An analysis of chat history shows that operators from China impersonated American immigration officials to intimidate activists, and even prepared obituaries and photos of tombstones to fake the death of opponents of the authorities. Detailed plans for a disinformation campaign targeting the current Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi were also revealed.

Reports submitted to ChatGPT mentioned that Chinese intelligence services also used local Chinese AI models such as DeepSeek.

“This is what modern Chinese transnational repression looks like. It's not just about digital trolling, it's activities on an industrial scale. This is an attempt to attack critics of the Chinese Communist Party with everything, everywhere and at once, said Ben Nimmo, chief investigator at OpenAI, quoted by CNN.

The incident shows how authoritarian regimes can use artificial intelligence to enhance censorship and repression internationally.

The report was released at a time of intensified technological competition between the US and China. Beijing has been expanding its censorship apparatus for years, but this case is one of the most striking examples of the use of Western technology by authoritarian regimes to suppress criticism abroad. OpenAI has blocked the user's account, but analysts warn that the incident is just one part of a broader information war in which control of the narrative in the world's two largest economies is at stake.

Krzysztof Pawliszak (PAP)

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