OpenAI, in collaboration with Microsoft, announced the disruption to five state-affiliated malicious actor networks, two based in China, one in Iran, one in North Korea, and one in Russia. 

According to OpenAI, these groups had been utilising AI services, including ChatGPT, for various purposes such as research, translation, identifying coding errors, and executing basic coding tasks to facilitate their operations. 

“We build AI tools that improve lives and help solve complex challenges, but we know that malicious actors will sometimes try to abuse our tools to harm others, including in furtherance of cyber operations,” stated OpenAI in a release.

OpenAI emphasised the unique risks posed by state-affiliated groups, which often possess advanced technology, significant financial resources, and skilled personnel.

“The activities of these actors are consistent with previous red team assessments we conducted in partnership with external cybersecurity experts, which found that GPT-4 offers only limited, incremental capabilities for malicious cybersecurity tasks beyond what is already achievable with publicly available, non-AI powered tools,” continued OpenAI. 

The move comes amid growing concerns about the potential dangers associated with bad actors leveraging generative AI applications to carry out cyber-attacks and other illicit activities. At the UK-hosted AI Safety Summit last year, world leaders and tech companies deliberated on the risks posed by such malicious use of AI.

According to the email security provider Egress, which released a Phishing Threat Trends Report, the security landscape is facing a concerning development in AI-assisted chatbots.

According to them, AI detectors are failing to discern the origin of chatbot phishing emails in just over 71% of instances, meaning AI-generated phishing emails are becoming indistinguishable from those crafted by humans. 

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The UK’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) has also issued warnings about the increasing use of generative AI tools by amateur and low-skilled hackers to enhance their capabilities in creating convincing spam and phishing attacks. OpenAI highlighted that several of the disrupted groups had been employing its services to draft content for potential phishing campaigns.

“As is the case with many other ecosystems, there are a handful of malicious actors that require sustained attention so that everyone else can continue to enjoy the benefits,” concluded OpenAI. 

“Although we work to minimise potential misuse by such actors, we will not be able to stop every instance. But by continuing to innovate, investigate, collaborate, and share, we make it harder for malicious actors to remain undetected across the digital ecosystem and improve the experience for everyone else.”