Russian Pranksters Draw OpenAI Natsec Trio Into Ukraine Call

Three senior OpenAI national-security officials spent 17 minutes on a video call briefing a pair of Russian comedians who were posing as Ukraine's foreign intelligence chief, The Intercept reported.

The targets were Sasha Baker, OpenAI's head of national security policy; Caroline Zier, its lead for strategic initiatives; and Ben Crampton, who leads OpenAI's European national security matters. The caller, whose camera stayed off, impersonated Rustem Umerov, head of Ukraine's Foreign Intelligence Service. On the call, discussion ranged across OpenAI's Pentagon ties, a model the company referred to as "Daybreak Blue," and whether OpenAI could support Ukraine's military, including possible offensive uses. "There's no question," Crampton said at one point, "we want to have as deep a relationship as we possibly can with Ukraine," adding that "it may not be possible to get to where we want to be straight away." Asked about Elon Musk, Baker replied: "I'm afraid we probably can't help you with Elon Musk."

The pranksters, Vladimir Kuznetsov and a partner who perform as the duo Vovan and Lexus, have run political prank calls since 2011 and have been accused of coordinating with the Russian government. Kuznetsov said the pair first reached a Ukrainian official in San Francisco while posing as Umerov, and that official then arranged the OpenAI meeting. The duo later posted the recording to Rumble.

Nate Evans, an OpenAI spokesperson, said the company conducted an investigation, determined the call was a prank, took internal action, and notified relevant authorities. OpenAI holds a $200 million Department of War contract for military AI applications, part of a defense-sector push that has produced a steady run of OpenAI stories in our tracker this quarter.