The FBI has arrested Abdulrahman Alfozan, a 35-year-old Saudi national and former OpenAI engineer, for allegedly planting a covert recording device in an executive conference room at the company’s San Francisco office, the US Justice Department said Tuesday.
OpenAI discovered the thumb-sized device on September 30, concealed in toilet paper and plugged into a USB port behind a television. It contained a microphone, a detachable camera sensor and encrypted storage. Investigators believe it was installed around September 28.
The company said it used its internal AI models to analyse the device, trace its origin and identify the employee allegedly responsible.
OpenAI subsequently alerted the FBI and terminated Alfozan’s employment. The company said it had found no evidence that model weights, source code or customer data had been improperly accessed or extracted.
According to the FBI complaint, Alfozan allegedly used a productivity tool to gather information about office layouts, meeting schedules and executive locations.
He also allegedly used an AI chatbot account associated with his spouse to seek guidance on building, installing and remotely accessing recording equipment.
Investigators further alleged that CCTV footage showed him near the restricted conference room and that security personnel later found a second encrypted recording device in his bag. Prosecutors said he did not disclose the device when reporting missing belongings.
Alfozan, a US permanent resident since 2020, joined OpenAI in July 2025 and previously worked at Meta, Microsoft and SAP. He also served as a venture partner at Raed Ventures and studied computer science at MIT.
If convicted, he faces up to five years in prison, a $250,000 fine and three years of supervised release. The investigation remains ongoing.
