China-linked accounts used ChatGPT to impersonate American residents and manufacture grassroots opposition to US data center construction.
OpenAI identified a cluster of ChatGPT accounts it believes are tied to a private Chinese technology firm. The company named the operation "Data Center Bandwagon." The accounts generated content centered on rising electricity costs, a real and contentious issue in communities where data centers are planned or already operating. OpenAI has not said which regions were targeted or how widely the content circulated.
This is a notable case of AI being turned against AI infrastructure. Data center opposition is already a genuine movement in the US, driven by real concerns about energy demand and water consumption. Seeding that debate with AI-generated personas makes it harder for affected communities to separate authentic local concern from manufactured outrage.
OpenAI both sells the tools used in this campaign and is now the company investigating their misuse. That structural tension hasn't gone away.