# OpenAI — Disrupting a new covert influence campaign from Russia

- Company: OpenAI (openai.com)
- Announced: 2026-08-25T00:00:00+00:00
- Category: safety-policy-update
- Subject: GPT / ChatGPT / API
- Coverage: Covered by 4 outlets
- Source: https://openai.com/index/disrupting-malicious-uses-of-ai-influence-campaign-russia
- Record: https://forck.live/items/4393-disrupting-a-new-covert-influence-campaign-from-russia

OpenAI enforced its safety policy by banning accounts originating from Russia that were leveraging AI to promote a fabricated think tank and a sovereignty index that favored Russia and disparaged the West.

## Evidence

Verbatim from https://openai.com/index/disrupting-malicious-uses-of-ai-influence-campaign-russia:

> OpenAI banned Russia-origin accounts using AI to promote a fake Israel-based think tank and a “sovereignty” index praising Russia and criticizing the West.

## Around this story

Outlets this record can name and link:

- cnbc.com: https://cnbc.com/2026/08/25/openai-russia-chatgpt-influence-campaign.html
- Quartz: https://qz.com/openai-banned-russian-chatgpt-accounts-influence-campaign-082526
- The Register — Slop factory bans Russians for using slop factory to create slop: https://theregister.com/ai-and-ml/2026/08/25/slop-factory-bans-russians-for-using-slop-factory-to-create-slop/5292297
- The Decoder — Russia used ChatGPT to run a covert influence campaign pushing pro-Kremlin narratives across the West: https://the-decoder.com/russia-used-chatgpt-to-run-a-covert-influence-campaign-pushing-pro-kremlin-narratives-across-the-west
- RuntimeWire — OpenAI bans Russia-linked ChatGPT accounts promoting a think tank built on copied papers: https://runtimewire.com/article/openai-bans-russia-linked-chatgpt-accounts-influence-campaign

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