OpenAI Disrupts Russian and Iranian AI Influence Operations Using Fake Journalists and Forged Material
OpenAI said it recently banned two AI-enabled influence operations, one Russian and one Iranian, that used fake journalists, forged documents and audio to place propaganda in mainstream outlets. The Iranian network ran seven journalist personas, while the Russian operation co-opted unwitting Latin American participants, according to Slashdot.
The Iranian operation generated batches of social media comments, generally on topics related to the US-Iran war, according to OpenAI. OpenAI said it identified almost 100 articles published or syndicated under the operation's bylines across roughly a dozen online outlets worldwide. These were small to medium outlets, generally focused on international affairs, geopolitics, and events in the Middle East. The earliest article identified was published in July 2025 and the latest in October 2026, with the frequency of reports increasing after the US-Iran war broke out earlier this year.
One persona, named Ervin B. Hoskins, claimed in a bio to be an American freelance writer and had social media accounts across tech platforms including Elon Musk's X and Meta-owned Instagram, according to OpenAI. Screenshots provided by OpenAI showed X transparency information connecting the account via a 'West Asia android app' and Instagram transparency information showing the account was based in Iran. Both accounts appeared to be suspended.
The Russian operation appears to have co-opted unwitting people in Latin America to run a 'think tank,' OpenAI said. Because OpenAI does not allow access to its models from Russia, the operators used VPNs to connect to its services, according to the company. The Russian operation created fake 'leaked' documents and audio scripts, some of which OpenAI identified being spread online.
Both operations managed to land their content, not all of which was generated from OpenAI's models, in mainstream media outlets rather than simply posting it on social media. OpenAI said both also made heavy use of AI to draft internal reports, with the Russian operation doing this more than anything else. In both cases, the actors used questionable or outright deceitful methodologies to exaggerate the operators' effectiveness, according to OpenAI.
The Russian operators claimed that in May 2026 they created a fake email address purporting to come from the Regional Directorate of Education in Lima, Peru. They used it to instruct schools in the district to hold events dedicated to Ukraine on the national Day of Cultural and Linguistic Diversity on May 21. According to the operators, some schools replied to the fake email address, confirming that they had held such events and even providing pictures. The operators then claimed to have planted stories about the events in the media in both Peru and Poland, alongside allegations that Ukraine was 'exporting' ultra-nationalist ideologies, triggering outrage. Open-source searches identified stories that matched this claim in the Peruvian and Polish press and an English-language publication in Hungary, some of which have since been deleted.
Similarly, in June, the operators claimed they used a different fake email address to trick schools in Ecuador into holding a ceremony pledging allegiance to President Daniel Noboa and to Erik Prince, former head of private military contractor Blackwater. The operators claimed the incident provoked outrage in Ecuador and put pressure on the government to deny the fake, thus amplifying it to a nationwide audience. Open-source research identified media coverage in the Ecuadorian press that closely resembled the claim, and even a detailed rebuttal by Ecuador's Minister for Education.
The operators used a range of techniques to underpin their false stories, according to OpenAI. Their internal reporting said they spread two different fakes targeting Ecuador in March. One used fake audio attributed to Ukraine's consul in Ecuador, in which he was alleged to have made disparaging comments about Ecuadorians.
The Economic Times argued that OpenAI's report 'is the latest illustration of how state actors can easily exploit widely available AI tools to peddle sophisticated propaganda against adversaries on a mass scale,' as cited by Slashdot. OpenAI said its findings showed the campaigns combined AI-generated material with other content and with tactics intended to inflate their apparent reach.