OpenAI bans Russian 'Dark Clark' ChatGPT accounts that ran a fake Latin American think tank

OpenAI’s report is dated October 8, 2026. In it OpenAI says it banned a cluster of ChatGPT accounts that originated in Russia, and that it nicknamed the operation Dark Clark, after a fake persona the operators used to run the front. OpenAI’s own scale places it at Category 5: “This is the first Category 5 operation we’ve disrupted since we began our reporting.”

On aims, OpenAI writes: “Much of this activity appeared aimed at undermining Ukraine’s reputation in the region, but some appeared aimed at influencing local political outcomes, especially in Argentina and Bolivia.” One claimed tactic: “For example, the operators claimed that in May 2026, they created a fake email address purporting to come from the Regional Directorate of Education in Lima, Peru.” On the front the operators ran, OpenAI says: “The available evidence indicates that the SRC’s employees in Latin America were not aware that they were working for a Russian group,” and “We identified well over 60 articles on the SRC website, the great majority of which appeared to be original compositions.”

OpenAI treats the operators’ own reporting with caution: “As such, their own claims of impact in their internal reporting cannot be taken at face value.” It does report corroboration of one claim: “Most notably, the operation’s claim to have tricked a Peruvian school into holding an event that portrayed Bandera was subsequently reported on in both Latin America and Europe, and appears to have led to comment from at least one Polish MEP.”

Attribution chain, as written: OpenAI names no state sponsor and does not claim to have established that the operators are Politology. It says the evidence ties the operators to public reporting on Politology in two cases. It also notes: “The operators also asked our models to translate or explain public reporting about Politology and Wagner, far more than asking about any other Russia-origin networks.” The link therefore runs through the operators’ own reports and earlier third-party reporting.