Washington, June 11 (IANS). On behalf of a senior leader of both major parties of the US Congress, China has been accused of trying to take advantage of America’s open political system.
This allegation has been made after OpenAI revealed that some people associated with China used ChatGPT to influence the ongoing debates in America. In this case, the American leader says that these people prepared material to influence public opinion on issues like American tariffs (import duties) and rapid expansion of infrastructure related to Artificial Intelligence (AI).
Chairman of the ‘House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party’ and US representative John Moolnaar has made this allegation. He said that the Chinese government was trying to interfere in legitimate discussions taking place among ordinary people in America.
Moolnaar said, “There are legitimate questions about data centers, and the American people deserve answers because companies are building the infrastructure that is critical to our country’s future. We are lucky to live in a free and open society where we can debate these topics.”
He added, “Unfortunately, the Chinese Communist Party takes advantage of our openness and works to divide Americans through its ‘United Front’ organizations and other institutions. Its state media have published articles in the English language that clearly attempt to divide Americans on the issue of building data centers, and some people in China are trying to do the same in covert ways.”
According to OpenAI’s June 2026 threat report, the company banned two groups of ChatGPT accounts. These accounts were suspected to have “originated from China”. These accounts were used to conduct covert influence campaigns aimed at influencing debates over US AI policy and competition in the technology sector.
The first operation, dubbed the ‘Data Center Bandwagon Campaign’, involved posting comments and images on social media claiming AI data centers were causing electricity prices for ordinary Americans to rise, the report said.
OpenAI said the content was likely posted via fake social media accounts and was intended to raise concerns about rising energy costs associated with AI infrastructure.
The second operation, ‘Tech and Tariffs’, created comments and political cartoons that criticized US tariffs and portrayed Washington as trying to dominate the technology sector. OpenAI said operators had specifically instructed the system to only show President Donald Trump and not mention Chinese President Xi Jinping.
The report said that some of the same networks also spread the false claim that data of ChatGPT users had been leaked. “These allegations were completely false,” OpenAI said.
The company also said that the online impact of these campaigns was very limited. According to OpenAI, these social media efforts did not receive any significant or authentic engagement and had no significant impact beyond their own activities.
Still, the company cautioned that the importance of these campaigns lay in the narratives that were being tested. The company said the campaigns sought to link US technology policies to economic concerns and public concerns, and attempt to involve foreign powers in ongoing domestic debates over AI, energy costs and technology competition. Mulinaar said his committee will continue to investigate possible attempts to influence foreign influence related to the data center development.
He said, “My committee and I will continue to examine China’s potential adverse impact on the data center debate. I hope that all Americans involved in these debates will treat each other with respect.”
This report has come at a time when the competition between America and China regarding Artificial Intelligence (AI) is intensifying. Both countries are investing heavily in AI infrastructure, advanced computing capabilities and next-generation technologies, which are considered vital for economic growth and national security.
–IANS
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