OpenAI says fake accounts from China tried to turn Americans against data centers - Engadget
www.engadget.com
OpenAI has published a report detailing how China-linked influence campaigns against data centers used ChatGPT.

OpenAI has published a report about ChatGPT users, who it says were likely based in China, that used the chatbot to plan a campaign designed to sway Americans’ opinions about AI data centers.

It divided the users into two clusters, the first of which it had designated the “Data Center Bandwagon” group. Accounts categorized in the group allegedly asked ChatGPT to generate English-language talking points and images, such as comic strips, which focus on how AI data centers drive up demand in electricity and how that leads to higher bills for consumers.

The company says these users posed as Americans from a variety of backgrounds on social media, where they had posted the text and image output they got from ChatGPT. OpenAI believes they’re part of a social media team at a private Chinese company working for local government clients. They apparently even uploaded a file to the chatbot describing their objectives and strategies on how to sway public opinion and how to establish fake social media accounts without getting detected.

  • gAlienLifeform@lemmy.world
    7·
    1 day ago

    Bullshit (arc)

    The theory that China is paying local activists in America to oppose data centers is catching on like wildfire among the Silicon Valley elite, despite a lack of evidence. Wealthy investors are naming names and pointing fingers, even if they can’t directly link their projects’ opponents to China.

    …

    … OpenAI also said the impact of the influence campaign appeared limited and its social media posts didn’t get much traction. “This was not a case of an influence operation creating a debate. The debate existed already. This was an influence operation from China trying to interfere in it. We didn’t see any signs that they succeeded,” said Ben Nimmo, who leads threat investigations at OpenAI, on a call with reporters.

    The allegations that some activists are being directly financed by China come amid a rising wave of anti-data center sentiment: a recent Gallup poll found that 71% of Americans somewhat or strongly opposed construction of data centers in their communities.

    Despite that public opposition, the theory does appear to be gaining some traction in Washington. In a letter last week, Congressman Brett Guthrie, R-Ky., the chairman of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce called for a briefing on whether the U.S. government sees evidence for Chinese influence in the data center debate. The letter was addressed to FBI Director Kash Patel as well as David Sacks and Michael Kratsios, two wealthy tech investors who sit on President Trump’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (Sacks, who was until recently Trump’s special adviser on artificial intelligence and cryptocurrency, is also a regular host of All-In).

    • IamSparticles@lemmy.zipEnglish
      2·
      22 hours ago

      Despite that public opposition, the theory does appear to be gaining some traction in Washington. In a letter last week, Congressman Brett Guthrie, R-Ky., the chairman of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce called for a briefing on whether the U.S. government sees evidence for Chinese influence in the data center debate.

      Translation: “Please provide some reasonable basis for us to claim that public opinion is a hoax perpetrated by a foreign power, so we can do whatever the fuck we want and make tons of money.”