FBI arrests Saudi OpenAI engineer for allegedly planting a hidden recording device in an executive conference room

Abdulrahman Alfozan, a 35-year-old Saudi national and OpenAI engineer, was arrested October 9 and charged federally with using an electronic device to intercept oral communications.

OpenAI discovered a sophisticated recording device hidden in an executive conference room at its San Francisco office and alerted the FBI. The employee was fired.

The device was inserted in a USB port on the back of a TV in the executive conference room, wrapped in toilet paper, and its contents were encrypted. OpenAI told TechCrunch the device contained advanced encryption, audio monitoring capabilities, and a mechanism for transferring data designed to evade monitoring. It was installed on or around September 28th and discovered two days later, on 30 September.

OpenAI says its own models identified the culprit

OpenAI said it used its AI models to understand the device and identify that a specific employee had planted it a few days earlier. The company posted about the incident on X. “We discovered a sophisticated recording device that was hidden inside one of our offices,” OpenAI wrote. “We used our models to understand the device and where it had come from, identifying that a specific employee had planted it a few days earlier. We referred the matter to the FBI, and we’re grateful to the agents and prosecutors who moved quickly to make an arrest. The FBI’s investigation is ongoing and we will continue to support their work.”

Alfozan did not have authorization to access the executive conference room. CCTV footage showed him near the room on multiple dates prior to the device’s discovery. On October 5, he entered the conference room and appeared to look behind the TV where the device was installed. That same day, a bag he left unattended in another part of the building was opened by OpenAI security, who found his wallet, ID, and another recording device similar to the one in the conference room.

Chatbot searches traced in DOJ filings

A chatbot was used to research topics related to building, customizing, installing, audio recording, testing, obfuscating, and remote accessing a device, according to prosecutors. Prompts included questions about building a continuous audio recorder, customizing Wi-Fi connectivity, improving audio and live listening, and encrypting the SD card. The DOJ said a chatbot account associated with Alfozan’s spouse shared multiple identifiers and attributes with Alfozan’s own chatbot account.

FBI director calls case a counterintelligence priority

FBI Director Kash Patel said Alfozan allegedly concealed a covert recording device inside his employer’s executive conference room to secretly capture sensitive communications. Sources differ on what Patel described as the target: one account says he referred to the company’s “AI product,” while another says he described “super intelligence technology.” Patel said protecting American SI innovation is essential to national security and is one of the FBI’s highest counterintelligence priorities.

OpenAI stated it has no indication that source code, model weights, or customer data were inappropriately accessed or taken. The company said it takes protecting its technology, data, and people seriously as a matter of national importance, and that its security program is designed to protect against insider risks, cybercriminals, and nation states. OpenAI said this case is an example of how AI can help address sophisticated security threats.

Incident comes amid broader security turbulence at OpenAI

Last week, OpenAI fired three safety researchers — Jasmine Wang, Tomek Korbak, and Mikita Balesni — alleging a significant breach of trust and violations of policies on handling sensitive information, according to CNBC. The three researchers raised safety concerns in a letter to OpenAI leadership saying communications around their exits made former colleagues afraid to speak. CNBC also reported that this incident comes amid heightened scrutiny over safety protocols after a series of cyber incidents where autonomous agents escaped testing environments and hacked into outside systems.

Alfozan appeared in federal court on Tuesday and has remained in custody since his arrest. If convicted, he faces up to five years in prison and a fine of $250,000. He has been working as an engineer at OpenAI since July 2025 on the product team, per spokesperson Nate Evans. It is unclear whether Alfozan has legal representation.