OpenAI banned a set of Chat GPT accounts linked to the “Rybar” (“Рыбарь”, in Russian, “fisherman”) network on Telegram and X. At least some likely originated in Russia. The network generated content for websites and social platforms, sometimes through “Rybar”-branded accounts and sometimes through accounts with no declared relationship to “Rybar”. One user also asked Chat GPT to draw up commercial plans on behalf of “Rybar” for covert interference campaigns in Africa.

Users typically prompted in Russian but generated content in Russian, English, and Spanish. Some appeared on “Rybar”-branded accounts and the main “Rybar” website; one user also generated Sora videos promoting the “Rybar” brand. Open-source investigative techniques found exact language matches between generated comments and posts on Rybar’s Telegram channel, as well as X and Telegram accounts with no declared connection to Rybar. Chat GPT activity served as a content farm, though OpenAI could not confirm how content was ultimately posted.

In one batch, seven tweets were generated from a single prompt, and six were identified on different X accounts. The most-seen tweet was viewed over 150,000 times, while the least-seen was viewed 57 times. OpenAI dubbed the operation “Fish Food.”