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By Dana Nickel, Yasmin Khorram, Jacob Wendler | 06/12/2026 06:22 AM EDT
The report’s findings are likely to further fuel claims made by Republicans and pro-AI voices that foreign entities have tried to meddle in the debate over AI data centers.
China-backed operatives sought to influence debate around data centers and federal tech policy, according to research from OpenAI. Photo Illustration by Justin Sullivan/ AFP via Getty Images
China was likely behind an online influence operation to sway U.S. perceptions of artificial intelligence technology and reshape the debate in Washington around the infrastructure needed to support it, according to research from OpenAI published Wednesday.
OpenAI said it caught the influence campaign because China-backed operatives were using ChatGPT to create content for the social media campaign.
The report’s findings are likely to further fuel claims made by Republicans and others pro-AI voices that foreign entities have tried to meddle in the debate over AI data centers, which has become a policy flashpoint heading into the midterms.
Still, OpenAI said it has not seen evidence that the campaigns succeeded in influencing public opinion on a widespread scale, according to Ben Nimmo, principal investigator of intelligence and investigations at OpenAI.
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