Russian pranksters dupe OpenAI execs on fake Ukraine video call

Three senior OpenAI executives spent about 17 minutes on a video call with Russian pranksters who had posed as Rustem Umerov, the head of Ukraine's Foreign Intelligence Service, The Intercept reported. The company's Head of National Security Policy Sasha Baker, Strategic Initiatives lead Caroline Zier, and European National Security Director Ben Crampton discussed OpenAI's $200 million contract with the U.S. Department of War and its Daybreak Blue cybersecurity model during the call.

The pranksters, the Russian duo known as Vovan and Lexus, have run political prank calls since 2011 and have been accused of working in league with the Russian government. "We initially contacted a senior Ukrainian official in San Francisco, posing as Mr. Umerov," Vladimir Kuznetsov, one half of the duo, told the outlet, explaining how he engineered his way to the OpenAI meeting.

On the recorded call, Baker told the fake Umerov: "There's no question, I think, from our perspective that we want to have as deep a relationship as we possibly can with Ukraine. But it may not be possible to get to where we want to be straight away." When the caller pressed on Elon Musk, Baker replied, "I'm afraid we probably can't help you with Elon Musk." Crampton added that "there's a general reluctance on the part of many people who are senior in the company to get too involved in offensive uses of our technology in a military context," while confirming "there has been some contact with the Ministry of Defense."

OpenAI spokesperson Nate Evans told The Intercept the company had already looked into the call. "Weeks ago, we launched a thorough investigation into the call's authenticity. We acted internally and with the relevant authorities to conclude that it was a prank conducted by individuals with a history of targeting officials and other companies," Evans said.