China-based operatives used ChatGPT to shape AI data centers and tariff debates

OpenAI has banned China-linked accounts that used ChatGPT to draft social media influence campaigns targeting U.S. debates over tariffs and AI data centers, the company said Wednesday.

Why it matters: The campaigns don't appear to have been effective, but they show how pro-China actors are testing AI tools to amplify existing political and economic divisions in the U.S.

Driving the news: OpenAI said it uncovered two operations that used ChatGPT to generate posts, comments and political cartoons about U.S. tech policy.

• One campaign, dubbed "Data Center Bandwagon," generated comments and comics claiming AI data centers were driving up electricity prices for American families.
• A second operation, "Tech and Tariffs," used ChatGPT to create content and political cartoons criticizing Trump's tariffs and the U.S. push for global tech dominance.

The big picture: Both campaigns latched onto already-heated debates.

• A recent Harvard/MIT poll found 32% of Americans oppose data centers in their area, while 40% support them.
• Seven in 10 Americans said in a Harris poll released in March that Trump's tariffs have caused them to pay higher prices.
• "This was not a case of an influence operation creating a debate," Ben Nimmo, principal investigator on OpenAI's intelligence and investigations team, told reporters. "The debate existed already. This was an influence operation from China trying to interfere in it."

Reality check: OpenAI said the campaigns failed to gain much online traction.

• However, an OpenAI official told reporters that this appears to be the first time the company has seen a China-linked operation using its models to meddle in the AI data center debate.

Zoom in: In the data center campaign, users OpenAI believes were linked to a Chinese government contractor asked ChatGPT to create comic strips about power grid capacity and electricity prices.

• The images were later posted to X via likely inauthentic accounts, alongside links to legitimate news stories about data center power demand.
• A separate group, which OpenAI could not directly attribute, used ChatGPT to create political cartoons of President Trump that criticized U.S. tech and tariff policies.
• In one cartoon, Trump is depicted wearing American flag pants that say "America First" while holding a mallet with the words "Tech Dominance" on them and swinging it into a wall that reads "Global Future."

The bottom line: OpenAI says the campaigns are an early sign of how foreign influence operators may use AI tools to scale content around U.S. political flashpoints.

Go deeper: Foreign disinformation enters AI-powered era