OpenAI disrupts Iranian influence campaign that placed about 100 fake articles in US media

OpenAI says users in Iran used its chatbot to produce about 100 fake articles that ended up in real publications. The articles carried the bylines of journalists who do not exist. OpenAI announced the disruption on October 8, 2026. The articles were largely critical of US military actions in Iran, and they landed during a stretch of heightened tension between Washington and Tehran. How Bogus Bylines worked The operators created seven fabricated journalist personas, gave them names and a writing output, and pitched their work to editors. According to OpenAI, roughly 100 AI-assisted articles were published across a range of outlets between July 2025 and October 2026. The placements ranged from local US newspapers to international sites. Daily Kos and Middle East Monitor were among the outlets where the content appeared. Operators wrote their prompts to ChatGPT in Persian, then had the model produce polished English-language copy. The operators also routed their activity through VPNs. That matters because OpenAI had already restricted direct access to its AI models from Iran, specifically to head off this kind of misuse. More than just articles OpenAI said the operators also used Chat...