OpenAI engineer charged with covertly planting recording device in company office
October 13, 2026 at 09:59 PM · Updated 2d ago
11 reports · 4 in Arabic, 7 in English · over 19 hours
Toilet paper and secret recorders: What we know about the arrest of the Saudi OpenAI engineer
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Saudi national charged with planting a listening device at OpenAI offices
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السجن 5 سنوات وغرامة 250 ألف دولار.. القصة الكاملة لاتهام مهندس سعودي في OpenAI بالتنصت على اجتماعات سرية
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FBI تعتقل سعوديًا وتتهمه بالتجسس على "أوبن أيه آي"
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اتهام سعودي بزرع جهاز تسجيل "متطور" في مكتب تابع لشركة "أوبن إيه آي"
(opens the publisher’s site)OpenAI engineer charged after listening device found in meeting room
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زرع جهاز تسجيل لاختراق الأسرار.. تحقيقات بقضية مثيرة بأميركا
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OpenAI employee arrested after recording device found in office
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Saudi national charged with secretly planting recording device in OpenAI office
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OpenAI employee arrested for allegedly hiding a ‘sophisticated recording device’ in its office
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FBI arrests OpenAI employee accused of planting hidden recording device in conference room
(opens the publisher’s site)Federal prosecutors have charged a Saudi national and OpenAI engineer with illegally planting a covert recording device in the company's San Francisco office.
- Abdulrahman Alfozan, an OpenAI engineer since July 2025, was arrested on October 9 and faces up to five years in prison if convicted.
- OpenAI discovered the device on September 30 hidden in toilet paper and inserted into a USB port on a television in an executive conference room.
- FBI Director Kash Patel said the alleged goal was to capture sensitive communications about the company's AI technology.
- OpenAI said it found no indication that source code, model weights, or customer data were inappropriately accessed, and confirmed the employee has been fired.
- Investigators found a second similar recording device in Alfozan's unattended bag during the probe.
- OpenAI said it used its own AI models to identify the device's origin.
- Officials cast the case as a national-security matter tied to protecting American leadership in superintelligence development.
- Federal prosecutors said the recording device Alfozan allegedly planted was encrypted.
- Alfozan appeared in federal court on Tuesday to answer the charges against him.
- Abdulrahman Alfozan, 35, reportedly used chatbots to plan the operation, seeking details about meeting room capacities, schedules, and how to install and conceal recording devices.
- Prosecutors said Alfozan was seen near the executive meeting room despite lacking authorized access to it.
- Alfozan faces a fine of up to $250,000 in addition to five years in prison if convicted.