Israeli Firm Tried To Influence LS Polls, Peddled Anti-BJP Agenda: OpenAI Report

New Delhi: A day before the last phase of polling and four days ahead of the counting of votes in India’s marathon general elections, comes a startling revelation courtesy an investigation by OpenAI.

The American artificial intelligence research organisation has found that an Israeli company, STOIC, attempted to interfere in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections by peddling an anti-BJP agenda.

The covert influence operation, dubbed ‘Zero Zeno,’ sought to use artificial intelligence models to influence the world’s biggest elections.

The OpenAI report claimed that STOIC, a for-hire Israeli firm, “began generating comments that focused on India, criticised the ruling BJP party and praised the opposition Congress party.”

The report mentioned activity that was focused on Indian polls was flagged in May, adding that the “network was operated by STOIC, a political campaign management firm in Israel.”

“While we observed these threat actors using our models for a range of IO, they all attempted to deceive people about who they were or what they were trying to achieve,” the report stated.

A cluster of accounts, operated from Israel, were used to generate and edit content for the covert operations, with the content being shared on X, Facebook, Instagram, websites and YouTube, OpenAI said.

“In early May, it (the network) began targeting audiences in India with English-language content,” the report claimed.

BJP termed called it a “dangerous threat” to India’s democracy.

“It is absolutely clear and obvious that BJP was and is the target of influence operations, misinformation and foreign interference, being done by and/or on behalf of some Indian political parties,” said Union Minister of Electronics & Technology Rajeev Chandrasekhar.

“It is clear: vested interests in India and outside are clearly driving this and needs to be deeply scrutinised/investigated and exposed. My view at this point is that these platforms could have released this much earlier, and not so late when elections are ending,” he added.