The report of 8 October
OpenAI said it banned accounts associated with two influence operations it attributes to origins in Russia and Iran. The company describes deceptive organizations and journalist personas supported through AI use. These are OpenAI's findings and attribution; we do not present them as an investigation independently conducted by this publication.
Reach is not the same as proven effect
The report uses the Breakout Scale. The methodology published by Brookings in September 2020 examines how operations move between platforms, communities, traditional media and public debate. It compares observed distribution. Reaching a large audience does not, by itself, establish how many people changed their opinions or why.
Our editorial perspective
Checking identity and original sourcing is a different editorial task from checking whether prose is persuasive. A well-written article can still have unclear origins. Readers should distinguish documented actions, the author's assessment of reach, and questions lacking sufficient public evidence. Our cover is a conceptual AI illustration, rather than an image of any participant in the reported operations.
