OpenAI reported the discovery of a concealed recording device in an executive conference room at its San Francisco office to the FBI. Prosecutors say it was connected to a USB port on the back of a television.
Federal prosecutors named the employee as Saudi national Abdulrahman Alfozan. OpenAI fired him, and he was arrested on October 9, roughly a week after the device was found. OpenAI spokesperson Nate Evans said Alfozan joined the company in July 2025 and was part of its product team.
Prosecutors with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of California charged Alfozan with using an electronic device to intercept oral communications, alleging he secretly recorded people’s voices without their consent. They said he was seen checking behind the television where the recorder was located. A camera OpenAI had installed there allegedly recorded him.
OpenAI said in a post on X that it used its internal AI models to analyze the “sophisticated” device. The company told TechCrunch it had “advanced encryption, audio monitoring capabilities, and a mechanism for transferring data designed to evade monitoring.” It remains unclear how technically distinct the device was from other recording devices.
OpenAI said it had found no indication that Alfozan improperly accessed or exfiltrated model weights, source code, or customer data. The reason for the recording device is still unclear. FBI Director Kash Patel said the alleged scheme aimed to “capture sensitive communications about the company’s super intelligence technology.” An FBI spokesperson, contacted about the case, repeated a statement Patel had made.
Alfozan and his attorney were not immediately available for comment. A conviction could carry a five-year prison sentence. Patel said, “Protecting American SI innovation is essential to safeguarding our nation’s economic strength and national security, and the FBI views that mission as one of our highest counterintelligence priorities.”
