Israeli firm attempts to interfere in India’s Lok Sabha elections, OpenAI discloses
OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT, recently revealed that it swiftly acted to disrupt deceptive uses of artificial intelligence aimed at influencing India’s Lok Sabha elections in 2024. The firm reported that STOIC, a political campaign management company based in Israel, was behind the covert operations involving generating content related to the elections and the Gaza conflict.
According to OpenAI, the network initiated generating comments focusing on India that criticized the ruling BJP party while praising the opposition Congress party in May. Within less than 24 hours of detecting this activity, OpenAI intervened to disrupt the deceptive campaign targeting the Indian elections.
Following its investigation, OpenAI confirmed that it had banned a group of accounts linked to Israel, utilized to create and modify content for the influence campaign on various platforms such as X, Facebook, Instagram, websites, and YouTube. The operation aimed to reach audiences in Canada, the United States, Israel, and eventually India with content in English and Hebrew.
Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar expressed concerns over the threat posed to Indian democracy, emphasizing that the BJP has been the primary target of such influenced operations, misinformation, and foreign interference. Chandrasekhar urged for a thorough investigation into the impact of such activities on the democratic processes in the country.
Meanwhile, OpenAI reiterated its commitment to developing safe AI, enforcing policies to prevent abuse, and enhancing transparency in AI-generated content. The company stated that it had disrupted five covert influence operations in the past three months, including the one targeting the Indian elections, with minimal impact on audience engagement.
As part of its strategy to ensure safe AI deployment, OpenAI highlighted its efforts to investigate and disrupt suspected covert influence operations using its models. The company named the detected operation ‘Zero Zeno,’ emphasizing the misuse of its models to generate deceptive articles and comments across multiple online platforms.
In conclusion, the revelation of attempted foreign interference in India’s elections underscores the growing concerns around deceptive online campaigns and the need for robust measures to safeguard democratic processes against such threats.
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