The FBI arrested Abdulrahman Alfozan, a Saudi national and OpenAI engineer, on charges of planting a hidden recording device in a San Francisco executive conference room.
The FBI has arrested Abdulrahman Alfozan, a 35-year-old Saudi national and engineer at OpenAI, on suspicion of planting a hidden recording device in an executive conference room at the company’s San Francisco office. The arrest, announced by the Justice Department on Tuesday, occurred on October 9, following a discovery by OpenAI’s security team in late September.
According to a criminal complaint filed in federal court in San Francisco, Alfozan allegedly concealed a USB recording device in toilet paper and inserted it into a port on the back of a television in an executive conference room. The device was discovered on September 30, though investigators believe it was installed on or about September 28.
The Justice Department stated that Alfozan was charged with "using or endeavoring to use an electronic, mechanical, or other device to intercept oral communications." If convicted, he faces up to five years in prison, a $250,000 fine, and three years of supervised release.
OpenAI said in a statement that the device featured "advanced encryption, audio monitoring capabilities, and a mechanism for transferring data designed to evade monitoring." The company noted that it used its internal AI models to identify the employee responsible. "At this time, we have no indications of this individual inappropriately accessing or exfiltrating model weights, source code, or customer data," OpenAI said.
Federal prosecutors allege that Alfozan, who had worked at OpenAI since July 2025, used an internal "productivity tool" to search for information about office buildings, meeting room calendars, and the locations of leadership and external partner meetings. The complaint also states that a chatbot account connected to Alfozan’s spouse contained queries related to remote audio recording and encrypting memory cards.
Security footage captured Alfozan near the conference room on nearly a dozen occasions in September, despite lacking authorization to access the space or participate in meetings there. After OpenAI discovered the first device, they added a camera to the room. This camera recorded Alfozan entering the room on October 5 and checking behind the television where the device had been placed. On the same day, Alfozan allegedly left an unattended bag in a different room, which contained a second similar recording device.
The arrest occurred amid heightened scrutiny of AI technology and intellectual property protection. FBI Director Kash Patel described the alleged scheme as an attempt to "capture sensitive communications about the company’s super intelligence technology." Patel stated, "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."
Attorney General Todd Blanche also addressed the incident, stating, "Theft of intellectual property involving cutting-edge super intelligence technology poses a serious threat to our national security." The US government currently refers to advanced AI capabilities as "super intelligence" (SI).
Alfozan, a legal permanent resident of the US since September 2020, was arrested three days before he, his spouse, and a family member were scheduled to depart for Saudi Arabia. He made his initial court appearance on Tuesday and is scheduled for a detention hearing on October 19. The Justice Department did not accuse Alfozan or the government of Saudi Arabia of spying activity in its statement.
Sources
This article was drafted with AI assistance and checked against the sources above. Company claims are reported as claims. Cover image is AI-generated.
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