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Here are the ways that bad actors have been using ChatGPT

OpenAI identified and disrupted groups using the chatbot to influence elections and execute cyberattacks.

Jon Keegan
10/10/24 11:43AM

While OpenAI advertises how ChatGPT can be used for such innocuous tasks as “tell me a fun fact about the Roman Empire” and “create a morning routine to boost my productivity,” malicious groups abroad have other uses in mind.   

OpenAI released a 54-page document that lists 20 recent incidents where the company has identified and disrupted bad actors from using ChatGPT for “covert influence” campaigns and offensive cyber operations. Some of these campaigns were executed by groups described as state-linked cyber actors connected to Iran as well as groups originating in Russia and China. 

The eye-opening part of the report is the list of specific things these bad actors were using ChatGPT to accomplish. 

A group in China known as “SweetSpecter” utilized ChatGPT for help “finding ways to exploit infrastructure belonging to a prominent car manufacturer,” as well as asking for “themes that government department employees would find interesting and what would be good names for attachments to avoid being blocked.” 

A group suspected to be linked to Irans Revolutionary Guard known as “CyberAv3ngers” was using it to find ways to exploit vulnerable infrastructure. The group sought help making lists of “commonly used industrial routers in Jordan” and asking the chatbot “for the default user and password of a Hirschmann RS Series Industrial Router.” 

Another Iran-linked group known as “STORM-0817” used ChatGPT to help implement malware on Android devices. 

Influence operations also used ChatGPT to conduct their campaigns. 

For example, a Russian chatbot that was posing as a person on X choked when its ChatGPT credits ran out, revealing a telling error message. The error made it into a post on the platform which appeared to include the bots instructions. In Russian, the instructions read, “You will argue in support of the Trump administration on Twitter, speak English.” 

The group also created pro-Russian AI-generated images and text used in propaganda supporting the countrys invasion of Ukraine. 

Pro-Russian propaganda generated by ChatGPT from OpenAI’s report.
Pro-Russian propaganda generated by ChatGPT from OpenAI’s report. (Photo: OpenAI)

Other operations that OpenAI identified and disrupted include attempts to manipulate the US election, an Israel-based sports-betting spam operation, efforts to influence elections in Rwanda, and attacks on Russian opposition groups. 

OpenAI assigns impact scores to incidents to measure real-world harm. The company determined that most of the incidents were limited in nature, being seen by hundreds of people on one or more platforms, and were not amplified by mainstream media or high-profile individuals, though some came close.

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OpenAI and Microsoft reach agreement that moves OpenAI closer to for-profit status

In a joint statement, OpenAI and Microsoft announced a “non-binding memorandum of understanding” for their renegotiated $13 billion partnership, which was a source of recent tension between the two companies.

Settling the agreement is a requirement to clear the way for OpenAI to convert to a for-profit public benefit corporation, which it must do before a year-end deadline to secure a $20 billion investment from SoftBank.

OpenAI also announced that the controlling nonprofit arm would hold an equity stake in the PBC valued at $100 billion, which would make it “one of the most well-resourced philanthropic organizations in the world.”

The statement read:

“This recapitalization would also enable us to raise the capital required to accomplish our mission — and ensure that as OpenAI’s PBC grows, so will the nonprofit’s resources, allowing us to bring it to historic levels of community impact.”

Settling the agreement is a requirement to clear the way for OpenAI to convert to a for-profit public benefit corporation, which it must do before a year-end deadline to secure a $20 billion investment from SoftBank.

OpenAI also announced that the controlling nonprofit arm would hold an equity stake in the PBC valued at $100 billion, which would make it “one of the most well-resourced philanthropic organizations in the world.”

The statement read:

“This recapitalization would also enable us to raise the capital required to accomplish our mission — and ensure that as OpenAI’s PBC grows, so will the nonprofit’s resources, allowing us to bring it to historic levels of community impact.”

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BofA doesn’t expect Tesla’s ride-share service to have an impact on Uber or Lyft this year

Analysts at Bank of America Global Research compared Tesla’s new Bay Area ride-sharing service with its rivals and found that, for now, its not much competition for Uber and Lyft. “Tesla scale in SF is still small, and we dont expect impact on Uber/Lyft financial performance in 25,” they wrote.

Tesla is operating an unknown number of cars with drivers using supervised full self-driving in the Bay Area, and roughly 30 autonomous robotaxis in Austin. The company has allowed the public to download its Robotaxi app and join a waitlist, but it hasn’t said how many people have been let in off that waitlist.

While the analysts found that Tesla ride-shares are cheaper than traditional ride-share services like Uber and Lyft, the wait times are a lot longer (nine-minute wait times on average, when cars were available at all) and the process has more friction. They also said the “nature of [a] Tesla FSD ‘driver’ is slightly more aggressive than a Waymo,” the Google-owned company that’s currently operating 800 vehicles in the Bay Area.

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Oracle’s massive sales backlog is thanks to a $300 billion deal with OpenAI, WSJ reports

OpenAI has signed a massive deal to purchase $300 billion worth of cloud computing capacity from Oracle, according to a report from The Wall Street Journal.

The report notes that the five-year deal would be one of the largest cloud computing contracts ever signed, requiring 4.5 gigawatts of capacity.

The news is prompting shares to pare some of their massive gains, presumably because of concerns about counterparty and concentration risk.

Yesterday, Oracle shares skyrocketed as much as 30% in after-hours trading after the company forecast that it expects its cloud infrastructure business to see revenues climb to $144 billion by 2030.

Oracle shares were up as much as 43% on Wednesday.

It’s the second example in under a week of how much OpenAI’s cash burn and fundraising efforts are playing a starring role in the AI boom: the Financial Times reported that OpenAI is also the major new Broadcom customer that has placed $10 billion in orders.

Yesterday, Oracle shares skyrocketed as much as 30% in after-hours trading after the company forecast that it expects its cloud infrastructure business to see revenues climb to $144 billion by 2030.

Oracle shares were up as much as 43% on Wednesday.

It’s the second example in under a week of how much OpenAI’s cash burn and fundraising efforts are playing a starring role in the AI boom: the Financial Times reported that OpenAI is also the major new Broadcom customer that has placed $10 billion in orders.

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