FBI arrests OpenAI employee for allegedly installing recording device in company offices

An OpenAI employee suspected of secretly installing a recording device in one of the company’s conference rooms has been arrested on criminal charges, the Justice Department announced Tuesday.

Abdulrahman Alfozan, 35, a Saudi national, was arrested Friday and made his first appearance Tuesday in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. Alfozan was charged with attempting to use an electronic, mechanical or other device to intercept oral communications.

Prosecutors said Alfozan worked at OpenAI as an engineer since July 2025.

On September 30, company employees discovered the audio recording device inserted into a USB port on the back of a television in an executive conference room. The company later determined that the recording device had been concealed in toilet paper and installed approximately two days before it was discovered.

The meeting room where he was hidden was often used by OpenAI employees to discuss highly confidential and proprietary matters, including research, product plans and business development, the Justice Department said.

In a statement, OpenAI said that after discovering the device, it contacted the FBI and fired the employee accused of installing it.

“The FBI’s investigation is ongoing and we will continue to support their work. At this time, we have no indication that this individual inappropriately accessed or exfiltrated model weights, source code, or customer data,” the company said.

“We take protect our technologydata and people seriously, and as a matter of national importance. Our security program is designed to protect against a wide range of threat actors, from insider risks to cybercriminals to nation states, and this case is an example of how AI can help address these sophisticated security threats. »

FBI Director Kash Patel said in a post on X that the FBI and its partners made the arrest and the investigation was ongoing.

Alfozan’s attorney, William Pernik, told CBS News that his client is presumed innocent and cautioned against “jumping to conclusions at this very early stage of the case when very little information is known,” or seeking to “politicize” a prosecution based on factors such as nationality.

The criminal complaint, made public Tuesday, alleged that Alfozan used a productivity tool to learn about OpenAI’s building addresses, meeting rooms, meeting room capacities and schedules, as well as the locations of “officers and directors” and meetings of external partners.

Meanwhile, other evidence collected during the investigation showed that a chatbot account associated with Alfozan’s spouse also submitted prompts between September 24 and 30, related to building, customizing, installing, recording audio, testing, obfuscating and remotely accessing a continuous audio recording device.

A photograph included in the complaint also shows Alfozan entered the conference room where the device was hidden on Oct. 5 and looked behind the television.

The same day, the complaint says, Alfozan left his bag unattended in another room and company security personnel opened it and found his ID, wallet and another recording device similar to the one placed in the conference room.

Alfozan is scheduled to appear in federal court again Oct. 19 for a detention hearing.