You'd think stealing secrets from an AI company would involve super-smart hackers, complicated code and a room full of blinking screens. But real life isn't always a Hollywood thriller. Sometimes, all it takes is a recording device hidden in a conference room - and, apparently, a piece of toilet paper.
OpenAI found itself at the centre of an alleged spying incident this week. On October 9, the FBI arrested Abdulrahman Alfozan, a 35-year-old engineering lead at the company, over allegations that he secretly recorded conversations.
He is accused of planting a recording device in an executive conference room at OpenAI's San Francisco office, where sensitive discussions about research and future products reportedly took place.
The good news? OpenAI says there is no sign that its AI technology, computer code or customer data was stolen. But the episode is a reminder that even the world's smartest technology companies can have a very ordinary problem: keeping secrets safe when people are involved.
You can build all the digital security you want, but someone still has to make sure the wrong person isn't listening in on a meeting.
Meanwhile, investors had a different kind of headache. After months of excitement about AI, technology stocks took a beating as fresh US inflation figures raised fears that interest rates might stay high for longer.
Why should an AI company care about interest rates? Because building AI isn't cheap . Companies are spending enormous sums on computer chips, data centres and the electricity needed to run them.
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