--- title: "OpenAI Leadership Gets Fooled by Pranksters Pretending to be Ukrainian Officials, Discusses Military Secrets With Them" description: "OpenAI was caught with its pants down when two Russian comedians staged a 17-minute video call about military applications for AI." date: "2026-11-13" modified: "2026-11-13" authors: - name: "Joe Wilkins" job_title: "Correspondent" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/jwilkins.md" url: "https://futurism.com/artificial-intelligence/openai-military-applications-ai-pranksters-ukrainian" categories: - "Artificial Intelligence" - "Military" - "OpenAI" - "Science & Energy" --- # OpenAI Leadership Gets Fooled by Pranksters Pretending to be Ukrainian Officials, Discusses Military Secrets With Them ![A disguise on a gradient background.]() *Shutterstock / Futurism* Weeks ago, three OpenAI higher-ups became the butt of an embarrassing joke pulled by a duo of Russian pranksters, a gaffe with alarming implications for a company jockeying for military contracts. According [to the *Intercept*](), a trio of national security and strategic initiative leaders at OpenAI — Sasha Baker, Caroline Zier, and Ben Crampton — took a video call with the Russian comedians who go by the monikers Vovan and Lexus (real names Vladimir Aleksandrovich Kuznetsov and Aleksei Vladimirovich Stolyarov) who were claiming they were top Ukrainian government officials. The call reportedly lasted a humiliating 17 minutes, during which the OpenAI staffers openly discussed military AI applications and referenced ongoing talks with the US Department of Defense about supplying Ukraine with AI tools. Vovan and Lexus recorded the meeting, which they have since made [available online](). "There's no question, I think, from our perspective that we want to have as deep a relationship as we possibly can with Ukraine," Crampton is heard saying when asked offensive military AI services to the country. “But it may not be possible to get to where we want to be straight away.” At one point, Crampton even suggested that the role of national security staffers at OpenAI is to smooth over reservations which executives might have about military AI. "Many of the company's leaders would not want our technologies to be used in offensive military operations," Crampton is heard saying on the call. "Our task is to explain that in certain situations, the line between offense and defense can be quite conditional." Later on, Crampton admits that OpenAI has a contact in the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense, "primarily through a colleague of ours based in Washington... who previously had worked with the Delta team in your Ministry of Defense." Speaking to the *Intercept*, Vovan said it was remarkably simple to arrange the meeting. Basically, the duo contacted a senior Ukrainian official working in San Francisco, who then offered to arrange the meeting with OpenAI. The incident has stunning implications for [OpenAI's security practices]() — if a couple of pranksters can snag a meeting with high-level company staffers as a joke, what's to stop malicious actors from doing the same? (Keep in mind the AI lab maintains a [massive Pentagon contract]() to deploy "advanced AI systems in classified environments.") In response to the stunt, OpenAI told the publication that "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," OpenAI's spokesperson continued. "We took action to prevent similar situations from happening in the future." At least OpenAI is in good company: Vovan and Lexus have previously punked public figures ranging from John McCain to Bernie Sanders. Talk about boundary-pushing comedy. **More on OpenAI:** *[OpenAI Is Sustaining Enormous Losses]()* ## Author At Futurism, I focus on the intersection of technology and power — examining the economics, history, and politics behind today’s dystopian headlines. As a writer, I’m interested in topics ranging from AI’s impact on labor to startups nobody asked for. My prior work includes bylines in Jacobin, Verso, and Blue Labyrinths. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Forbes, The Guardian, MIT Technology Review, Time, The Nation, Mother Jones, The Verge, and Wired. I grew up in Michigan, attending Central Michigan University as well as Ball State University, where I earned a master of music. I now live in Brooklyn with my girlfriend and our cat Ziti. On weekends, you can find me hunched over a cold pint arguing geopolitics with the other transplants. ### Author social links [Bluesky]() ## More - [OpenAI Axes Ban on Military Contracts, Reveals Deal With Pentagon]() - [OpenAI Strikes Deal With Military Contractor to Provide AI for Attack Drones]() - [Elon Musk Says It Was the Pentagon That Shut Down Starlink for the Ukrainian Military]() - [OpenAI Secretly Tried to Merge With Anthropic]() - [Increasingly Paranoid OpenAI Has Installed Fingerprint Scanners and Airgapped Systems to Prevent Secrets Escaping]() - [Protesters Swarm OpenAI]() - [Panicked OpenAI Execs Cutting Projects as Walls Close In]() - [OpenAI Cuts Off Engineer Who Created ChatGPT-Powered Robotic Sentry Rifle]()