{"id":685,"date":"2026-10-20T14:33:32","date_gmt":"2026-10-20T14:33:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/learnhip.com\/hub\/lesson-plans\/news-lesson-spy-at-openai-b2\/"},"modified":"2026-10-20T20:23:04","modified_gmt":"2026-10-20T20:23:04","slug":"news-lesson-spy-at-openai-b2","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/learnhip.com\/hub\/lesson-plans\/news-lesson-spy-at-openai-b2\/","title":{"rendered":"News Lesson: A Spy at OpenAI? (B2)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">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 B2 version looks at the details of the case, why AI companies are targets for spying, and the wider questions about workplace surveillance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Level:<\/strong> B2 \u00b7 <strong>Time:<\/strong> 45 to 90 minutes. Pick the activities that suit your class. They work in almost any order.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Lesson Activities<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"\/reveal\/picquiz.php?w=d7ec3c12\">Warmer: What Is He Doing?<\/a> &#8211; picture reveal: a man pressing a glass against the wall to listen next door. Teach <em>eavesdrop<\/em> and <em>overhear<\/em>, then ask what a modern spy would use instead.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"\/categorise\/activity.php?w=93cfb977\">Prediction: True or False?<\/a> &#8211; Students guess which 10 statements about the case are true, then check after reading.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"\/sentence\/match.php?w=71c53d2f\">Vocabulary: Pre-teach the Key Words<\/a> &#8211; Match 10 words and phrases from the article to their meanings before reading (sophisticated, detect, confidential, suspected of, charged with, surveillance&#8230;).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Reading: A Bug in the Boardroom, Spying at OpenAI? &#8211; A news article with 12 gaps. Choose <a href=\"\/cloze\/exercise.php?w=8380e25c\">without a word bank<\/a> or <a href=\"\/cloze\/exercise_hint.php?w=8380e25c\">with a word bank<\/a> for extra support.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"\/cards\/cardset.php?w=dd3e603f\">Discussion: Secrets, Spying and Surveillance<\/a> &#8211; 12 discussion questions on monitoring staff, naming suspects, smart speakers, AI and keeping secrets.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"\/ranking\/exercise.php?w=f457c545\">Speaking: Ranking<\/a> &#8211; 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.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Teacher Tips<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>For a shorter lesson, use the warmer, the reading and the discussion cards.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Language focus: look at the language of accusation and reporting (according to court documents, prosecutors say, is suspected of, has been charged with, they claim, alleged). Point out why journalists use it: the case has not been decided in court.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The suspect has not been convicted. The lesson does not name him; encourage students to talk about the case, not the person.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The case is ongoing. Check the latest news before class in case there are new developments.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Follow-up: students write a short news report about an imaginary office mystery, using the reporting language from the text.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Teaching a lower-level group? Try the <a href=\"\/hub\/lesson-plans\/news-lesson-spy-at-openai-a2\/\">A2 version of this lesson<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>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 &#8230; <a title=\"News Lesson: A Spy at OpenAI? (B2)\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/learnhip.com\/hub\/lesson-plans\/news-lesson-spy-at-openai-b2\/\" aria-label=\"Read more about News Lesson: A Spy at OpenAI? (B2)\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":593,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-685","page","type-page","status-publish"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/learnhip.com\/hub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/685","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/learnhip.com\/hub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/learnhip.com\/hub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/learnhip.com\/hub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/learnhip.com\/hub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=685"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/learnhip.com\/hub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/685\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":705,"href":"https:\/\/learnhip.com\/hub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/685\/revisions\/705"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/learnhip.com\/hub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/593"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/learnhip.com\/hub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=685"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}