OpenAI engineer Abdulrahman Alfozan was arrested on 9 October over a charge of using a device to intercept oral communications, or attempting to do so, The San Francisco Standard reported. Prosecutors accuse him of placing a hidden recorder in an executive conference room at the company’s San Francisco headquarters.
Key points
- OpenAI personnel found a recorder concealed in toilet paper behind a conference-room television around 30 September.
- OpenAI says its internal AI models helped identify the employee responsible and trace the device’s origin.
- Alfozan appeared in federal court on 13 October and remained in custody.
Alfozan and the conference-room recorder
Alfozan, 35, is a Saudi national who had worked as an engineer at OpenAI since July 2025, prosecutors said, according to The San Francisco Standard. The filing identifies OpenAI as “Company 1”.
OpenAI personnel found the device around 30 September, according to the complaint. Wrapped in toilet paper, the recorder was connected to a USB port behind a television in a room used by executives. The company determined that it had been installed around 28 September. Its contents were encrypted.
Prosecutors also said an unattended bag found in the company’s offices held Alfozan’s wallet and identification, along with a recording device. The charge concerns using or attempting to use a device to intercept oral communications.
OpenAI says its models traced the device
OpenAI said it used internal AI models to identify the individual responsible for planting the hidden device and trace its origins, Reuters reported. The company’s account puts its own technology at the centre of its response to an alleged breach inside its offices.
OpenAI said it referred the matter to the FBI, which arrested an employee. The company said it terminated the employee and that the FBI’s investigation is continuing.
OpenAI said it had no indications that the individual had improperly accessed or exfiltrated model weights, source code or customer data. It said its security programme is designed to address threats ranging from insiders to cybercriminals and nation states, and described this case as an example of AI helping to address such threats.
Alfozan appears in federal court
Alfozan made his initial appearance in federal court on 13 October and remained in custody, The San Francisco Standard reported.
