--- title: Disrupting AI-enabled “false front” operations | daily.dev description: OpenAI disrupted two state-linked influence operations that used ChatGPT to support 'false front' entities spreading geopolitical propaganda. A Russia-origin... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/disrupting-ai-enabled-false-front-operations-jybjurgnx twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: Disrupting AI-enabled “false front” operations | daily.dev og:description: OpenAI disrupted two state-linked influence operations that used ChatGPT to support 'false front' entities spreading geopolitical propaganda. A Russia-origin... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/disrupting-ai-enabled-false-front-operations-jybjurgnx og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/jybjUrGNX.png og:image:alt: Disrupting AI-enabled “false front” operations og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Disrupting AI-enabled “false front” operations **[OpenAI](https://daily.dev/sources/openai)** · 27 min read · 0 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary OpenAI disrupted two state-linked influence operations that used ChatGPT to support 'false front' entities spreading geopolitical propaganda. A Russia-origin operation created a fake Latin American 'think tank' (Social Research Center) staffed by unwitting locals, spreading fabricated stories about Ukraine and regional leaders across Argentina, Bolivia, Ecuador, Peru, and Poland, rated Category 5 on the Breakout Scale — the highest ever recorded by OpenAI. An Iran-origin operation, 'Bogus Bylines,' used seven fake journalist personas to pitch nearly 100 articles about the US-Iran conflict to real outlets and generate social media comments, rated Category 4 for article placement but only Category 2 for social media impact. Both operations used AI mainly to accelerate traditional tactics rather than create new ones, and both inflated their own effectiveness in internal reports. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Questions this post answers ### What is the Breakout Scale used to rate influence operations? The Breakout Scale is a framework that rates influence operations on a scale from 1 (lowest impact) to 6 (highest impact), based on how far content spreads and whether it breaks out from the originating platform into mainstream media or provokes real-world reactions. OpenAI used it to assess disrupted operations, rating a Russia-linked Latin America campaign as Category 5 and an Iran-linked journalist persona campaign as Category 4. _daily.dev surfaces security and AI-safety research for teams tracking how threat actors adapt their tactics._ ### How did the Russia-linked Dark Clark operation use ChatGPT to run a fake think tank in Latin America? Operators used ChatGPT mainly to draft and update internal reports on a fake 'research platform' called the Social Research Center, run under a fabricated persona named Mia Clark. The think tank co-opted unwitting Latin American staff who did not know they worked for a Russian group, and published over 60 original articles, making it more sophisticated than prior Russian front operations that mostly plagiarized content. _daily.dev helps security-minded developers follow real-world case studies on AI misuse like this one._ ### How many fake journalist personas did the Iranian ChatGPT-enabled operation use to place articles in media outlets? The Iranian operation, nicknamed Bogus Bylines, used seven fake journalist personas: Ervin B. Hoskins, Noah Lamington, Sophia Gonzalez, Michael Harrison, Ericka Feusier, Jenny Williams, and Alice Johnson. These personas got nearly 100 articles about the US-Iran conflict published or syndicated across roughly a dozen online outlets, some with substantial social followings. _daily.dev keeps developers and researchers current on disclosed AI misuse and disinformation tactics._ ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [Disrupting a new covert influence campaign from Russia](https://daily.dev/posts/disrupting-a-new-covert-influence-campaign-from-russia-asdxicuds) · OpenAI · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [An AI Created a Fake Human to Sneak Its Malware Past a Real One. It Almost Worked.](https://daily.dev/posts/an-ai-created-a-fake-human-to-sneak-its-malware-past-a-real-one-it-almost-worked--lv6gclkgg) · Medium · 2 upvotes · 0 comments - [Schneier on Security](https://daily.dev/posts/schneier-on-security-a7rpdugyv) · Schneier on Security · 0 upvotes · 0 comments --- Tags: [#openai](https://daily.dev/tags/openai), [#chatgpt](https://daily.dev/tags/chatgpt), [#ai-safety](https://daily.dev/tags/ai-safety) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/disrupting-ai-enabled-false-front-operations-jybjurgnx) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"Disrupting AI-enabled “false front” operations","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/disrupting-ai-enabled-false-front-operations-jybjurgnx","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/disrupting-ai-enabled-false-front-operations-jybjurgnx"},"datePublished":"2026-10-08T15:30:40.243Z","dateModified":"2026-10-08T16:48:38.914Z","description":"OpenAI disrupted two state-linked influence operations that used ChatGPT to support 'false front' entities spreading geopolitical propaganda. 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