REDMOND, Washington: In a report published this week, Microsoft said that hackers backed by Russia, China, and Iran have been using artificial intelligence (AI) tools from OpenAI to improve their skills and trick targets.

In its report, the U.S. tech giant said it tracked hacking groups affiliated with Russian military intelligence, Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, and the Chinese and North Korean governments.

While announcing the report, Microsoft said it would implement a blanket ban on state-backed hacking groups using its AI products.

In an interview with Reuters ahead of the report’s release, Microsoft Vice President for Customer Security Tom Burt said, “Independent of whether there is any violation of the law or any violation of terms of service, we just do not want those actors that we have identified, that we track and know are a threat, actors of various kinds, we do not want them to have access to this technology.”

In response to the report, Chinese embassy spokesperson Liu Pengyu said it opposed “groundless smears and accusations against China” and recommended the “safe, reliable and controllable” use of AI technology to “enhance the common well-being of all mankind.”

Since 2023, senior cybersecurity officials in Western countries have warned that rogue actors were abusing AI tools.

Bob Rotsted, head of cybersecurity threat intelligence at OpenAI, said, “This is one of the first, if not the first, instances of an AI company coming out and discussing publicly how cybersecurity threat actors use AI technologies.”

However, OpenAI and Microsoft described hackers’ use of their AI tools as “early-stage” and “incremental.”

The two companies had not seen cyber spies make any breakthroughs, Burt claimed, stating, “We really saw them just using this technology like any other user.”