Iranian campaign planted fake articles in real U.S. publications using ChatGPT

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OpenAI revealed an Iranian influence campaign that used ChatGPT to plant roughly 100 AI-generated articles across at least 20 U.S. news outlets, pushing content critical of the Iran war under fake bylines. The pieces appeared in publications ranging from a small Florida weekly to larger outlets with millions of social media followers.

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Cached at: 10/09/26, 03:24 PM

# Iranian campaign planted fake articles in real U.S. publications using ChatGPT Source: [https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2026/10/09/chatgpt-users-iran-planted-ai-generated-articles-us-news-media/](https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2026/10/09/chatgpt-users-iran-planted-ai-generated-articles-us-news-media/) Democracy Dies in Darkness About 100 AI\-generated articles were published across at least 20 news outlets, OpenAI said\. 5 minutes ago \(The Washington Post illustration; iStock\) ![](https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-apps/imrs.php?src=https://author-service-images-prod-us-east-1.publishing.aws.arc.pub/wapo/KQJDLGRZ7VGCBCW6LVOXQIVNIM.jpg&h=196&w=196) “The bill will follow Americans beyond the fighting itself,” an opinion piece in the Port St\. Joe Star, a tiny Florida weekly newspaper, warned of the Iran war last month\. The[article](https://gulfcounty.news/2026/09/22/the-cost-of-american-power-in-the-iran-war/)ran under the byline Ervin Hoskins, which has also appeared on articles critical of the war in larger publications including Daily Kos and Middle East Monitor, which together have more than 3 million followers on Facebook\. --- ![](https://www.washingtonpost.com/dr/resources/images/generic-newsletter-signup.png) ![](https://www.washingtonpost.com/dr/resources/images/generic-newsletter-signup.png)

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