[ITmedia News] OpenAI employee arrested by FBI on suspicion of planting recording device in boardroom

On October 13th (local time), OpenAI announced in X that it had discovered a sophisticated recording device hidden in its office, identified the employee who planted the device, and notified the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). On the same day, the U.S. Department of Justice announced that Abdulrahman Alfozan, 35, a Saudi national and employee of OpenAI, had been arrested and charged with using electronic devices to intercept or attempt to intercept oral conversations. The suspect was arrested on October 9th and made his first appearance in federal court on the 13th.

OpenAI said it used its AI models to analyze how the device worked and where it came from, and determined that it was installed by an employee several days before it was discovered. At this time, there is no evidence that this individual had unauthorized access to or exfiltration of model weights, source code, or customer data. The employee was fired.

According to the complaint released by the Department of Justice, Alfozan had been working as an engineer at OpenAI since July 2025. The suspect's LinkedIn profile, which appears to belong to him, describes himself as an engineering lead with 11 years of experience building large-scale, reliable software systems in the data and AI/machine learning fields, and cites a track record of leading engineering teams on complex projects and enterprise products.

According to the complaint, on or around September 30, a company representative discovered a recording device plugged into a USB port on the back of a television in an executive conference room at the company's San Francisco building. The device was hidden wrapped in toilet paper and was installed around September 28th, with its records encrypted.

Internal surveillance camera footage showed the suspect appearing near the boardroom multiple times before the device was discovered. The suspect had no authority to enter the conference room or participate in the meeting. In addition to proprietary research, product plans, and business development opportunities, nonpublic and confidential information was often discussed in the room, including technical progress, strategic decisions, government engagement, and commercial relationships, according to the complaint.

The indictment also alleges that prior to September 28, the suspect repeatedly used commercial productivity tools to look up OpenAI's office address, meeting rooms, meeting room capacity and schedule, location of "leadership and executive," and meetings with external partners. In addition, a chatbot account associated with the suspect's spouse sent prompts about building, customizing, installing, testing, disguising, and remotely accessing recording devices between September 24 and 30. The account reportedly shared multiple identifiers and attributes with the suspect's own account. The prompts included how to build a continuous recording device, customize your Wi-Fi connection, improve audio quality and real-time listening, and encrypt your SD card. Between September 27th and 28th, prompts were also sent regarding headers and MAC addresses specific to the discovered devices.

According to the complaint, on Oct. 5, the suspect entered the boardroom and appeared to be looking behind the television where the device was plugged into. On the same day, he left his bag in another room, and when OpenAI security personnel opened it, they found a second recording device similar to the first, along with his wallet and ID.

If convicted, the suspect could face up to five years in prison, a $250,000 fine, and three years' probation. The case is being investigated by the FBI, and the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of California is handling the prosecution, with assistance from the Department of Justice's National Security Division.

FBI Director Kash Patel said the suspect is suspected of hiding a device in the company's boardroom to secretly record sensitive conversations about the company's superintelligence technology. He said protecting America's superintelligence innovations is one of the FBI's highest counterintelligence priorities. Director of National Intelligence Jay Clayton said this incident shows that winning the global competition for SI (formerly known as AI) is a national security challenge, and emphasized the importance of President Trump's creation of a "Super Intelligence Force." The Justice Department said the charges are part of its efforts under NSPM-11, a national security presidential memorandum designed to support the United States' dominance in superintelligence technology.

OpenAI explained that it views the protection of its technology, data, and human resources as an issue of national importance. The company's security program is designed to address a wide range of threats, from internal fraud to cybercriminals to nation-state threat actors, and the company said this case demonstrates how AI can help address advanced security threats. The FBI's investigation is ongoing and the company will continue to cooperate.

Regarding OpenAI, employees have been fired or left the company one after another since October. On the 8th, three researchers involved in safety research published a letter announcing that they had been fired and requesting a written explanation of the reasons. OpenAI said the three people violated regulations regarding the handling of confidential information. On the 3rd, David Robinson, who oversaw the writing of the safety report, left the company and wrote an article for The Atlantic criticizing the company's corporate culture.