OpenAI Blocks Iranian Group's ChatGPT Accounts for Targeting US Election

OpenAI said it had taken down accounts of an Iranian group for using its ChatGPT chatbot to generate content meant for influencing the US presidential election
OpenAI said it had taken down accounts of an Iranian group for using its ChatGPT chatbot to generate content meant for influencing the US presidential election
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OpenAI Blocks Iranian Group's ChatGPT Accounts for Targeting US Election

OpenAI said it had taken down accounts of an Iranian group for using its ChatGPT chatbot to generate content meant for influencing the US presidential election
OpenAI said it had taken down accounts of an Iranian group for using its ChatGPT chatbot to generate content meant for influencing the US presidential election

OpenAI said on Friday it had taken down accounts of an Iranian group for using its ChatGPT chatbot to generate content meant for influencing the US presidential election and other issues.
The operation, identified as Storm-2035, used ChatGPT to generate content focused on topics such as commentary on the candidates on both sides in the US elections, the conflict in Gaza and Israel's presence at the Olympic Games and then shared it via social media accounts and websites.
Investigation by the Microsoft-backed AI company showed that ChatGPT was used for generating long-form articles and shorter social media comments.
According to Reuters, OpenAI said the operation did not appear to have achieved meaningful audience engagement.
Majority of the identified social media posts received few or no likes, shares or comments and the company did not see indications of web articles being shared across social media.
The accounts have been banned from using OpenAI's services and the company continues to monitor activities for any further attempts to violate policies, it said.
Earlier in August, a Microsoft threat-intelligence report said Iranian network Storm-2035, comprising four websites masquerading as news outlets, is actively engaging US voter groups on opposing ends of the political spectrum.
Democratic candidate Kamala Harris and Republican rival Donald Trump are locked in a tight race, ahead of the Nov. 5 presidential election.
The AI firm said in May it had disrupted five covert influence operations that sought to use its models for "deceptive activity" across the internet.



French Intelligence Chief: No Certainty on Whereabouts of Iran’s Uranium Stocks

An Iranian national flag is fixed to the arm of a statue at the monument dedicated to the Palestinian struggle in Palestine Square in central Tehran on July 8, 2025, as an anti-Israeli billboard is displayed on the facade of a building depicting the Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu with text in Persian and Hebrew reading "Netanyahu lost another war; you fell victim to Bibi's political games; Where will the next failure to stay in power occur?" (AFP)
An Iranian national flag is fixed to the arm of a statue at the monument dedicated to the Palestinian struggle in Palestine Square in central Tehran on July 8, 2025, as an anti-Israeli billboard is displayed on the facade of a building depicting the Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu with text in Persian and Hebrew reading "Netanyahu lost another war; you fell victim to Bibi's political games; Where will the next failure to stay in power occur?" (AFP)
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French Intelligence Chief: No Certainty on Whereabouts of Iran’s Uranium Stocks

An Iranian national flag is fixed to the arm of a statue at the monument dedicated to the Palestinian struggle in Palestine Square in central Tehran on July 8, 2025, as an anti-Israeli billboard is displayed on the facade of a building depicting the Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu with text in Persian and Hebrew reading "Netanyahu lost another war; you fell victim to Bibi's political games; Where will the next failure to stay in power occur?" (AFP)
An Iranian national flag is fixed to the arm of a statue at the monument dedicated to the Palestinian struggle in Palestine Square in central Tehran on July 8, 2025, as an anti-Israeli billboard is displayed on the facade of a building depicting the Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu with text in Persian and Hebrew reading "Netanyahu lost another war; you fell victim to Bibi's political games; Where will the next failure to stay in power occur?" (AFP)

France's intelligence chief said on Tuesday that all aspects of Iran's nuclear program have been pushed back several months after American and Israeli air strikes, but there is uncertainty over where its highly-enriched uranium stocks are.

"The Iranian nuclear program is the material, it is highly-enriched uranium, it is a capacity to convert this uranium from the gaseous phase to the solid phase. It is the manufacturing of the core and it is the delivery," Nicolas Lerner, who heads the DGSE intelligence service, told LCI television.

"Our assessment today is that each of these stages has been very seriously affected, very seriously damaged and that the nuclear program, as we knew it, has been extremely delayed, probably many months."

Lerner, who was speaking for the first time on national television, said a small part of Iran's highly-enriched uranium stockpile had been destroyed, but the rest remained in the hands of the authorities.

"Today we have indications (on where it is), but we cannot say with certainty as long as the IAEA does not restart its work. It's very important. We won't have the capacity to trace it (the stocks)," Lerner said.

Other intelligence assessments have also suggested that Iran retains a hidden stockpile of enriched uranium and the technical capacity to rebuild.

Lerner echoed those comments saying there was a possibility Iran could press ahead with a clandestine program with smaller enrichment capacities.

"That's why France is so attached to finding a diplomatic solution to this nuclear crisis," he said.