In October 2026, an engineer at OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, was arrested and accused of hiding a secret listening device in an executive meeting room. OpenAI says its own AI helped to identify the suspect. This lesson tells the story, which reads like a spy thriller, and gets students talking about secrets, spying and surveillance at work. This A2 version tells the story simply, with vocabulary for crime, work and secrets.
Level: A2 · Time: 45 to 90 minutes. Pick the activities that suit your class. They work in almost any order.
Lesson Activities
- Warmer: What Is He Doing? – picture reveal: a man pressing a glass against the wall to listen next door. Teach eavesdrop and overhear, then ask what a modern spy would use instead.
- Prediction: True or False? – Students guess which 10 statements about the case are true, then check after reading.
- Vocabulary: Pre-teach the Key Words – Match 10 words from the text to their meanings before reading (strange, secret, device, record, fire, arrest, guilty, court…).
- Reading: A Spy in the Office? – A short graded news story with 10 gaps and a word bank.
- Discussion: Spies, Secrets and Technology – 10 conversation questions about spy films, secrets at work, cameras and AI tools.
- Speaking: Ranking – How much would you accept at work? Students rank nine security measures, from ID cards to AI that checks all your messages, then compare with a partner.
Teacher Tips
- For a shorter lesson, use the warmer, the reading and the discussion cards.
- Grammar focus: the reading uses the past simple for the story (found, met, fired, arrested) and “say” for reported claims (investigators say…). Ask students to retell the story in order.
- The suspect has not been convicted. The lesson does not name him; encourage students to talk about the case, not the person.
- The case is ongoing. Check the latest news before class in case there are new developments.
- Follow-up: students write a short news report about an imaginary office mystery, using the reporting language from the text.
Teaching a stronger group? Try the B2 version of this lesson.