The ‘Sophisticated’ Bug OpenAI Found in Its Conference Room Can Be Yours for $13.99

4 days ago by themachinestops to c/technology

cross-posted from: https://infosec.pub/post/53563321

The Seeed Studio XIAO ESP32-S3 Sense is for tinkerers, not super-spies.

db2 71 points 4 days ago

Actual image of OpenAI and Kash Patel's FBI meeting:

Cabinet meeting scene from "Idiocracy"

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Buffalox 37 points 4 days ago

If they are insinuating that because it's cheap it's not sophisticated think again.
You can get motion sensors based on quantum dynamics principles for just $1, they are in all phones today, and those are based on extremely sophisticated theory and production methods. But industry has managed to find ways to make them extremely cheap despite that.

So putting the sophisticated in quotes based on the low price is an oversimplification.
That said, there are probably more sophisticated miniaturized options for spying than the cheap gadget they used.

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snooggums 22 points 4 days ago

Sophisticated is commonly used as a comparison to other sinilar things. So a sophisticated computer in 1980 is different from one in 2026 because technology advanced significantly. A lot of common features on cell phones would have been called sophisticated 20 years ago, but not anymore.

In this case sophisticated is intended to mean relative to other similar devices. Since this is a commodity electronic device you can easily buy for under $13 it doesn't fit the common usage of 'sophisticated' for 2026.

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schipelblorp 8 points 4 days ago

Language is messy. I sometimes think of sophisticated as the opposite of simple.

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Buffalox 5 points 4 days ago

It kind of is, isn't it?

Edit:
Goddam people are contrarian here.
https://www.merriam-webster.com/...
Simple is the first antonym (opposite) stated, and simplistic is number 4.
This place is a cesspool sometimes 🤡

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schipelblorp 5 points 4 days ago

Depends on what you mean by is.

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snooggums 3 points 4 days ago

Complex is the opposite of simple.

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just_an_average_joe 2 points 3 days ago

No, it isn't.

(Source: https://www.youtube.com/...)

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Buffalox 0 points 4 days ago

A computer from the 80's is still a sophisticated device.

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snooggums 5 points 4 days ago

Not compared to modern top end hardware, which is how the word is used in this context.

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Buffalox 0 points 4 days ago

Ok, but you could also say a simple pc about a modern pc, that does not mean it's actually simple. It's because it is used in place of ordinary. And ordinary also doesn't mean simple in the literal sense. Even a "simple" mobile phone is in fact not simple.

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Eheran 9 points 4 days ago

Which sensor in phones uses quantum states? Do you mean things like SQUIDs? They are a completely different beast than classical sensors like MEMS.

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Buffalox -8 points 4 days ago

Motionsensors

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fonix232 3 points 4 days ago

Do you mean the Soli radar? That ended up in what, 2-3 phone models altogether?

Most phones do not have motion sensors.

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Buffalox -6 points 4 days ago

No literally a common motion sensor.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_sensor

Quantum sensors have applications in a wide variety of fields including microscopy, positioning systems, communication technology, electric and magnetic field sensors.

One of these are the perfectly common motion sensor that detects if you move your phone, which is based on quantum phenomenon, like the phase shift between photons send in different directions.

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jjlinux -1 points 4 days ago

I am extremely ignorant on these things. If what you say is true, it stands to reason that all the claims that "only 3 companies can produce memory chips" are most likely bullshit.

I hate the way the world is going right now.

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Buffalox 3 points 4 days ago

The 3 major makers Samsung, SK Hynix and Micron dominate the market, but they are definitely not alone. especially not since China has entered the market in force.

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Evil_Shrubbery 24 points 4 days ago

Could have just hacked the TV like a normal pro.

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Overwrite7445 11 points 3 days ago

Why hack it? Just buy the data from LG

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answersplease77 8 points 3 days ago

Seriously how does a multibillion tech company keep a smart tv in their confrence rooms? It has to be modified and its microphones removed, or forever offline at least

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Squizzy 7 points 3 days ago

These meeting rooms have commercial displays but also they have the google or microsoft office speakers anyway

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perviouslyiner 2 points 4 days ago

China's already got control of that!

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0x0 12 points 4 days ago

Openais products must be shit at coding if it unsuccessfully encrypted the sdcard as asked to

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partofthevoice 2 points 3 days ago

What good will onboard encryption be if the device is seized? They will just figure out how to decrypt.

I guess you’d need to set up asynchronous encrypt / decrypt keys, then move the data encrypted end to end. The target device can do the decrypting, while the bug only does encrypting.

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0x0 2 points 3 days ago

Thats not how encryption works when implemented properly

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partofthevoice -3 points 3 days ago

How so?

If you ever intend to decrypt the data, don’t you need a decryption key?

I think my point stands, you’d need this device to be only capable of encryption. Otherwise, anyone with access to the device can decrypt it. So it goes without saying, you’d have to push the data to a second device which handles decryption.

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black0ut 6 points 3 days ago

You can have an encryption key that can't decrypt the data. That's what public and private keys are. The device can have a public key to encrypt the data, and then it can only be decrypted with the attacker's private key. No need to even get it out of the device, you can also perform the decryption on the same device. Just don't store the private key in there.

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0x0 -3 points 3 days ago

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sircac 11 points 3 days ago

OpenAI told me in an email that it used its own AI models to analyze data from the device—including forensic images of the data stored on the device—to find their suspect.

They will never find out

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areakode 6 points 4 days ago

I have a couple of these in a drawer somewhere. Who should I "hack"?

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toiletobserver 5 points 3 days ago

Hack the planet!

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modus 3 points 3 days ago

Super Intelligence.

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YiddishMcSquidish -3 points 4 days ago

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WhyJiffie 0 points 3 days ago

a microphone is cheap. you don't need a battery if you can plug it in somewhere, be it a real power source, or a usb port or display output on something else.

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