China's Covert Plot to Undermine Donald Trump Revealed

China has been secretly launching propaganda campaigns to incite resistance against the policies of US President Donald Trump. Specifically, the propaganda targets Trump’s high tariff policies that disadvantage China, according to a report released by US technology giant OpenAI on Wednesday (10/6) local time.

According to OpenAI, Chinese propaganda is being spread through OpenAI’s flagship chat service. Chinese propagandists are also said to be intervening in US debates regarding data centres and AI in general through OpenAI’s services.

The ChatGPT developer stated that these Chinese propaganda efforts were detected from late 2025 to early 2026. However, it was noted that these efforts have not had a significant impact.

Nevertheless, OpenAI’s findings indicate that generative AI is currently playing a central role in propaganda campaigns aimed at influencing the digital realm. The Chinese Embassy in Washington stated they were unaware of the research conducted by OpenAI. “We firmly oppose all slander and groundless attacks against China,” said the Chinese Embassy, as quoted by Reuters on Thursday (11/6/2026).

According to OpenAI, its systems discovered a group of Mandarin-speaking users using ChatGPT to create slogans and cartoons criticising Trump’s technology and trade policies. Subsequently, this content was distributed via X.

The cartoons depict Trump acting ‘destructive’ with global consequences. One cartoon shows Trump using a hammer to damage a wall labelled ‘Global Future’.

The same group also used ChatGPT to generate Mandarin-language comments used in the comment sections of Mandarin-language articles, as well as content in Italian and Japanese. X and xAI did not respond to requests for comment via email.

OpenAI stated it has tracked another group of users to a Chinese technology company working on government projects, although it did not disclose the identity of the company. It was reported that this group attempted to interfere in debates regarding AI, data centres, and sensitive issues in the US, occurring at a time when dozens of states have considered or are considering restrictions on data centre development.

An example cartoon shared by OpenAI depicts the industry as greedy profit-seekers whose electricity consumption harms ordinary citizens. Ben Nimmo, a lead researcher at OpenAI, told journalists that the operation appeared to be directed at manipulating debates regarding AI and broader US technology policy.

“In this situation, it is very ironic that they are attempting to use US AI to do so,” said Nimmo.

While the propaganda operation does not appear to have yielded significant results, the use of AI-assisted propaganda serves as another illustration of how widespread AI-generated imagery has become, even in propaganda that criticises the industry itself. Last week, technology publication 404 Media reported that digital content companies are using AI-generated imagery to produce memes opposing data centres.