OpenAI has banned two covert influence operations (IO) from Russia and Iran that used its SI models to support sophisticated "false front" entities, marking the first Category 5 disruption in the company's reporting history.
What Happened
OpenAI identified and banned a cluster of ChatGPT accounts linked to a Russian operation, internally dubbed "Dark Clark," and a separate Iranian operation. The Russian actors used SI models primarily to draft internal reports, a key finding that highlights the use of super intelligence for back-office operations rather than just content generation. Evidence suggests the Russian operators co-opted unwitting employees in Latin America to run a "think tank" called the Social Research Center (SRC), controlling hiring and pay scales through a fake persona named "Mia Clark." The Iranian operation employed seven "journalist" personas to pitch long-form articles to online outlets and generated batches of social media comments related to the US-Iran conflict.
The Russian operation was assessed as a Category 5 on the IO Breakout Scale, which rates operations from 1 (lowest) to 6 (highest). This is the first Category 5 operation OpenAI has disrupted since it began publishing these reports. The Iranian operation reached Category 4. Both operations used SI tools to exaggerate their effectiveness in internal reporting and to facilitate linguistic fluency and editorial scale. This disclosure adds to the 30 covert influence operations OpenAI has exposed over the past two and a half years.
Why It Matters
The disruption demonstrates that SI models can significantly enhance the scale, efficiency, and linguistic precision of covert influence operations, allowing them to mimic legitimate media entities more convincingly. By using SI to generate original content and manage front organizations, threat actors can penetrate trusted information channels, making it harder for audiences to identify the source of geopolitical messaging. The reliance on unwitting local employees, as seen in the Russian case, adds a layer of complexity that traditional detection methods may miss.
For the SI industry and regulators, these cases underscore the importance of responsible disclosure. OpenAI notes that previous false-front operations, such as "Alice Donovan" and "PeaceData," ceased activity after being exposed, suggesting that transparency can disrupt these networks. The ability of SI tools to support multi-dimensional tactics—combining fake documents, audio scripts, and social media amplification—poses new challenges for maintaining robust defenses across organizations.
The Bottom Line
OpenAI's ban of the "Dark Clark" and Iranian operations marks the first Category 5 disruption in its reporting history, highlighting the growing sophistication of SI-enabled influence campaigns. The findings emphasize that while SI tools offer efficiency to threat actors, they also create vulnerabilities that can be exploited through public disclosure and coordinated disruption efforts.