OpenAI announced on Friday that it had taken action against an Iranian group for misusing its ChatGPT chatbot to create content aimed at influencing political discourse and U.S. elections. The group, identified as Storm-2035, generated content on controversial topics such as U.S. presidential candidates, the Gaza conflict, and Israel’s Olympic participation, which was then disseminated through social media and websites.

The operation employed ChatGPT to produce both long-form articles and shorter social media posts. However, OpenAI’s investigation found that the content generated by Storm-2035 failed to engage audiences significantly. Most social media posts received minimal interaction, and there was no evidence of widespread sharing of the generated web articles.

As a result, OpenAI has banned the accounts involved from using its services and continues to monitor for any further policy violations. This action follows a recent Microsoft threat-intelligence report which highlighted that Storm-2035, operating under the guise of news outlets, was targeting U.S. voter groups with divisive messages on various issues including presidential candidates and LGBTQ rights.

In addition to these developments, Israeli researchers have made progress in identifying a new cocoa strain that could potentially expand the plant’s growing regions. As the political landscape heats up with Democratic candidate Kamala Harris and Republican contender Donald Trump in a competitive race for the presidency, OpenAI remains vigilant in its efforts to prevent misuse of its technology.

The company had previously disrupted five covert influence operations in May that attempted to use its models for deceptive activities online.

(Adapted from EconomicTimes.com)