OpenAI engineer arrested for allegedly planting spy device in office
A Saudi OpenAI engineer has been arrested for allegedly planting a hidden recording device in an executive conference room at the company's San Francisco offices to secretly record sensitive conversations.
A Saudi OpenAI engineer has been arrested for allegedly planting a hidden recording device in an executive conference room at the company's San Francisco offices to secretly record sensitive conversations.
According to the DOJ, OpenAI determined that the device had been concealed in toilet paper, was installed around September 28, and contained encrypted data.
Department of Justice announced Tuesday that Abdulrahman Alfozan, 35, who had worked at OpenAI since July 2025, was arrested on October 9 and charged with illegally intercepting oral communications.
The DOJ says OpenAI security personnel discovered the recording device on September 30, plugged into a USB port behind a television in an executive conference room.
According to the complaint, Alfozan also used a productivity tool to search for information about OpenAI's offices, meeting rooms, executive locations, and meeting schedules.
30, OpenAI personnel discovered a surreptitious audio recording device (Recording Device 1) inserted into a USB port on the back of a television in an executive conference room inside one of their buildings in San Francisco," says the DOJ press release .
80,000+ Organizations Had AI Logins Stolen: From Shadow AI to LLMjacking OpenAI is preparing “o,” an always-on ChatGPT assistant that could handle email OpenAI's AI agents accidentally uploaded user-provided images to third-party sites
In a statement posted on X, OpenAI said it used its own AI models to investigate the suspicious device and help identify the employee responsible.
Join Mikko Hyppönen and security leaders from the NFL, CHANEL, and Atlassian for a two-hour digital summit on what AI-speed attacks change, what defenders should stop doing, and how to validate, decide, fix, and re-validate at machine speed.
The DOJ says the conference room was regularly used for meetings involving confidential information about OpenAI's proprietary research, product plans, technical capabilities, business relationships, and government engagements.
What happened
A Saudi OpenAI engineer has been arrested for allegedly planting a hidden recording device in an executive conference room at the company's San Francisco offices to secretly record sensitive conversations.
According to the DOJ, OpenAI determined that the device had been concealed in toilet paper, was installed around September 28, and contained encrypted data.
What changed
Department of Justice announced Tuesday that Abdulrahman Alfozan, 35, who had worked at OpenAI since July 2025, was arrested on October 9 and charged with illegally intercepting oral communications.
The DOJ says OpenAI security personnel discovered the recording device on September 30, plugged into a USB port behind a television in an executive conference room.
Who is affected
According to the complaint, Alfozan also used a productivity tool to search for information about OpenAI's offices, meeting rooms, executive locations, and meeting schedules.
30, OpenAI personnel discovered a surreptitious audio recording device (Recording Device 1) inserted into a USB port on the back of a television in an executive conference room inside one of their buildings in San Francisco," says the DOJ press release .
Why it matters
80,000+ Organizations Had AI Logins Stolen: From Shadow AI to LLMjacking OpenAI is preparing “o,” an always-on ChatGPT assistant that could handle email OpenAI's AI agents accidentally uploaded user-provided images to third-party sites
Response
In a statement posted on X, OpenAI said it used its own AI models to investigate the suspicious device and help identify the employee responsible.
Join Mikko Hyppönen and security leaders from the NFL, CHANEL, and Atlassian for a two-hour digital summit on what AI-speed attacks change, what defenders should stop doing, and how to validate, decide, fix, and re-validate at machine speed.
Attribution
BleepingComputer: A Saudi OpenAI engineer has been arrested for allegedly planting a hidden recording device in an executive conference room at the company's San Francisco offices to secretly record sensitive conversations.
What to watch next
Watch for updated vendor guidance and fixed-version details.