OpenAI, employee arrested by FBI: "He hid recording device in the office"

The artificial intelligence company reported this with a post on X, where it reassures that, at the moment, there is no evidence of theft of codes, customer data or AI models

OpenAi reported that the FBI arrested an employee who had hidden "a sophisticated recording device inside one of our offices." At this time, we read in a post on OpenAI's security team found the device late last month and the employee, a Saudi national, was arrested on October 9, the FBI said.

"We used our models to analyze the device and trace its origin, identifying an employee who had placed it a few days earlier," OpenAI explained regarding the matter. "We reported the incident to the FBI and are grateful to the agents and prosecutors who acted quickly to make the arrest. The FBI investigation is ongoing and we will continue to support their work."

"No evidence of improper access"

Furthermore, at this time "we have no evidence to indicate improper access or exfiltration of model weights, source code or customer data by this individual. The employee's employment has been terminated," the statement said. "We consider the protection of our technology, data and people a matter of extreme importance, even at a national level. Our security program is designed to defend us from a wide range of threats - ranging from internal risks to cybercriminals, up to state actors - and this case demonstrates how artificial intelligence can help address these sophisticated security threats", concludes the note from the Californian artificial intelligence giant.

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