AI diary reveals China’s global dissident intimidation operation

OpenAI’s new report details a sprawling Chinese influence operation that used ChatGPT as a diary to document and execute repression against dissidents abroad, including impersonating US immigration officials and trying to take down a dissident’s social media via forged court documents. The effort involved hundreds of operators and thousands of fake accounts and illustrates how AI tools can power authoritarian information campaigns. OpenAI banned the user after matching diary notes with real-world activity, highlighting ongoing AI-driven geopolitical information operations amid US–China AI competition.