After OpenAI, Elon Musk’s X says 200,000 China-linked bots targeted US AI debate
X (formerly Twitter) has identified a network of 200,000 China-linked accounts attempting to manipulate public debate regarding American AI and energy policy. This follows similar reports from OpenAI regarding the use of AI tools to influence social media discourse.
Why it matters
The use of bot networks to influence domestic energy and AI policy highlights growing concerns over foreign interference in digital public discourse.
Just weeks after Sam Altman's OpenAI linked China with datacentre protests across America, now the world's richest man Elon Musk's company X, formerly Twitter, has made similar claims. In a post on its platform, X said that it has discovered a bot farm network with 200,000 accounts as part of its Safety team's investigation into suspected inauthentic Chinese accounts. The company announced its findings on its Global Government Affairs page. It said that 200 accounts out of the 200,000 were posting comic strips, images and text about AI data centers in a manner that "could manipulate a legitimate debate about American AI and energy policy."In June this year, OpenAI published a report saying that accounts likely based in China used ChatGPT to generate anti-data center content.
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