AI Safety in the Real World

The OpenAI Forum focused on the intersection of AI, security, and information integrity. Ben Nimmo (OpenAI’s Principal Investigator) and Jim Sciutto (CNN) discussed how AI is transforming threat intelligence, including efforts to detect and disrupt covert influence operations by authoritarian actors. The conversation underscored how OpenAI is defending democratic information ecosystems, advancing global safety, and empowering users to protect themselves from scams through AI tools.

Jack Stubbs, from the Intelligence and Investigations team, described how his group disrupts organized scam networks while also empowering the public to use ChatGPT as a personal safety tool. He emphasized that most scammers are not inventing new methods but using AI to scale old tricks more efficiently, and that OpenAI has disrupted operations in Cambodia, Myanmar, and Nigeria. Stubbs underscored both the human and financial toll of scams, citing $12 billion in reported U.S. losses last year and even teen suicides linked to sextortion. His team uses a “ping–zing–sting” framework to map scam patterns and has found AI involved at every stage. Importantly, he highlighted that millions of people already use ChatGPT to identify scams, with three times more scam-detection interactions than scammer interactions, and noted growing demand for free, accessible AI safety tools. Stubbs closed by stressing transparency through public reports, partnerships with groups like AARP, and collaboration across tech and civil society to ensure AI strengthens safety, security, and shared benefits for all.

Lisa Robinson, Ambassador Clara Chappaz, Chris Lehane, and Dr. Mathilde Cerioli  discussed the potential to expand access to knowledge and opportunity for young people around the world, but realizing that promise will require safeguards that can evolve alongside the technology. The panel emphasized that AI offers significant opportunities for education and accessibility, but safety-by-design, age assurance, and youth participation must be built into systems from the start. AI literacy is also central and children need to learn how to use AI responsibly rather than simply be restricted from accessing it.The discussion concluded with a call for faster research, better data access, stronger international coordination, and continued investment in tools that protect children while enabling them to benefit from AI.

This OpenAI Forum event featured Chris Nicholson in conversation with Ben Nimmo and Albert Zhang from OpenAI’s Intelligence and Investigations team, known as I2. The discussion focused on how OpenAI detects, disrupts, and reports coordinated misuse of AI, particularly covert influence operations linked to the People’s Republic of China. Ben and Albert explained how threat actors use AI to generate political content, impersonate Americans online, and attempt to shape public opinion around issues like U.S. AI policy and data center development. They emphasized that OpenAI’s investigations focus on deceptive behavior and hidden coordination, not on suppressing legitimate political debate. The speakers also shared how OpenAI uses its own tools, including Codex and AI agents, to scale investigations, identify suspicious patterns, and support open-source research. The conversation closed with practical advice for the public: be cautious of emotionally manipulative content online, question the source of information, and build a more trusted and diverse “information diet.”