OpenAI says suspected fake China-linked accounts tried to sway the debate about US data centers

Date:
Thu, 11 Jun 2026 12:05:00 +0000

Description:
OpenAI bans China-linked accounts allegedly behind data center propaganda.

FULL STORY ======================================================================Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Reddit Pinterest Flipboard Threads Email Share this article 0 Join the conversation Follow us Add us as a preferred source on Google Newsletter Subscribe to our newsletter China used ChatGPT to generate comments, posts, and cartoons The content capitalized on issues surrounding data centers and tariffs The material was shared on social media to
exacerbate existing tensions OpenAI has banned a number of accounts that it says were linked to social media influence campaigns surrounding the growing opposition to data centers and President Trumps tariffs on foreign imports.

The two campaigns, named Data Center Bandwagon and Tech and Tariffs, used ChatGPT to generate posts, comments and cartoons intended to sow political division in the US. Chinas intention was to deepen the divide by drumming up online engagement with AI generated posts, OpenAI said, but the campaigns failed to gain any traction. Latest Videos From Watch full video here: China exacerbates existing tensions The negative effects of data center
construction and the additional costs imposed on consumers by tariffs are existing areas of contention within US society, but they werent narratives invented by China.

Instead, according to OpenAI, these campaigns were designed to increase the scale of the issues and broaden their visibility among online groups and on social media sites such as X. You may like 'We will be taking action to protect American innovation': White House accuses China of 'systematically' extracting American AI technologies The data center debate rumbles on - here are the numbers behind People Over Profit Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang warns of "enormous" China compute capacity

It is the first time that OpenAI models have been used in a Chinese foreign influence campaign, a spokesperson told Axios .

OpenAI said that a Chinese government contractor was responsible for the data center campaign, which shared posts drawing on existing concerns surrounding power grid capacity and electricity prices in areas where data centers were planned or constructed. Are you a pro? Subscribe to our newsletter Sign up to the TechRadar Pro newsletter to get all the top news, opinion, features and guidance your business needs to succeed! Contact me with news and offers from other Future brands Receive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners
or sponsors By submitting your information you agree to the Terms &
Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.

OpenAIs account of a foreign country using AI to capitalize on political issues adds some limited validity to recent Republican claims that the entire data center opposition movement being a Chinese influence campaign , but does little to address the very real, tangible effects that data center projects are having on local communities in the US.

A group of Republicans recently called upon FBI Director Kash Patel to investigate anti-data center sentiment, alleging that the rising tide of opposition is being fueled by China, as the inclusion of similar phrasing around water usage,energy constraints, transparency surrounding approval, and utility bill use language too similar to be coincidental. Follow TechRadar on Google News and add us as a preferred source to get our expert news, reviews, and opinion in your feeds.



======================================================================
Link to news story: https://www.techradar.com/pro/openai-says-suspected-fake-china-linked-accounts -tried-to-sway-the-debate-about-us-data-centers


--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A49 (Linux/64)
* Origin: tqwNet Technology News (1337:1/100)