this post was submitted on 11 Jul 2026
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It modifies the prompt, aka the input, not the output. It is smuggling 3 bits of secret user/session data in a wrapper that doesn't look like it contains that data. As the article explains:
This is a normal timestamp on a prompt:
Today's date is 2026-07-11.But if your system timezone is a Chinese mainland timezone, it looks like:
Today's date is 2026/07/11.Then, if your base URL includes a keyword like "deepseek," it silently replaces the apostrophe from a
'to aʼ:Todayʼs date is 2026-07-11.Or if the base URL has one of the domains on the list, like any .cn domain, it replaces the apostrophe with another apostrophe character:
Today’s date is 2026-07-11.And if it has both a URL and a keyword on the watchlist, the prompt context includes:
Todayʹs date is 2026-07-11That's 3 bits of information: does this system have a mainland Chinese time zone, does the base URL contain a known keyword (associated with Chinese AI competitors) or a known domain (associated with mainland China or its major tech companies). And it sneaks it on by without making it obvious.
That's steganography.