OpenAI has disclosed that China-linked actors used ChatGPT to generate content designed to influence domestic US debates over artificial intelligence infrastructure and tariffs, prompting a bipartisan congressional leader to warn that Beijing is systematically exploiting America's open political system. The findings, detailed in OpenAI's June 2026 threat report, led the company to ban two clusters of ChatGPT accounts believed to have originated in China.

Two Campaigns, Two Narratives

The first operation, which OpenAI labelled the 'Data Centre Bandwagon' campaign, generated social media comments and images claiming that AI data centres were driving up electricity prices for ordinary Americans. The content was distributed through accounts described as likely inauthentic and sought to amplify public anxiety over rising energy costs tied to AI expansion.

The second, called the 'Tech and Tariffs' campaign, produced comments and political cartoons criticising US tariffs and portraying Washington as pursuing technological dominance. Notably, operators reportedly instructed the system to depict only President Donald Trump and to avoid any reference to Chinese President Xi Jinping — a detail that underscores the operation's intent to frame the narrative as a domestic American controversy rather than a geopolitical dispute.

False Claims About ChatGPT Data

The same networks also reportedly spread fabricated claims that ChatGPT user data had been compromised. OpenAI flatly rejected those allegations, stating: 'These allegations were entirely false.' The company said the disinformation appeared designed to erode public trust in US AI platforms at a moment of intense competition with China.

Limited Reach, But a Warning Signal

OpenAI assessed that both campaigns had minimal real-world impact, concluding that the social media content received 'no authentic engagement' and that there was 'no evidence of meaningful breakout beyond its own activity.' However, the company cautioned that the operations' significance lay in the narratives being stress-tested — specifically, the attempt to connect US technology policy with economic anxieties and to insert foreign actors into live domestic debates over AI, energy costs, and technological competition.

Congressional Response

Rep. John Moolenaar, Chairman of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, said the disclosures confirmed a pattern of behaviour by Beijing. 'The Chinese Communist Party exploits our openness and works to divide Americans through its United Front organisations and other entities,' he said. Moolenaar added that China's state-run media had published English-language articles 'overtly attempting to divide Americans on the construction of data centres,' while other elements were pursuing 'more disguised methods.'

Moolenaar confirmed his committee would continue investigating potential Chinese malign influence in the data centre debate, urging Americans engaged in these discussions to 'treat one another with respect.'

Broader Context: The US-China AI Race

The revelations arrive as US-China competition over artificial intelligence intensifies across infrastructure, advanced computing, and next-generation technologies — all increasingly viewed as central to both economic growth and national security. This is not the first time foreign actors have been accused of weaponising AI tools for influence operations, but the use of a leading American AI platform against its own country's policy debates marks a pointed escalation in tactics.