OpenAI
U.S. charges OpenAI engineer, alleging he hid a recorder behind a TV
Federal prosecutors charged an OpenAI engineer with using a device to intercept oral communications after the company found a recorder in a conference room.
Federal prosecutors have charged an OpenAI engineer with using a hidden recording device to intercept conversations in an executive conference room. OpenAI said it has no indication he improperly accessed or exfiltrated model weights, source code or customer data.
The Justice Department said Oct. 13 that Abdulrahman Alfozan, 35, a national of Saudi Arabia and an OpenAI engineer since July 2025, was arrested Oct. 9 and made his initial federal court appearance Oct. 13. He is charged with using or endeavoring to use a device to intercept oral communications. The Guardian reported he has made no public comment, and The Verge reported he has been in custody since the arrest.
The Complaint Describes a Device Behind a TV
OpenAI personnel found a recording device on or about Sept. 30, according to the complaint, unsealed Oct. 13. It was in a USB port on the back of a television in an executive conference room at a San Francisco building. OpenAI determined it was concealed in toilet paper and installed on or about Sept. 28.
The complaint alleges meetings in that room frequently covered confidential research, product plans and government engagements. It alleges Alfozan had no authority to join them and that CCTV showed him near the room on multiple dates.
Prosecutors Cite Chatbot and Tool Queries
The complaint alleges that before Sept. 28 Alfozan used a “productivity tool” to ask about OpenAI’s building addresses, meeting rooms, calendars and “leadership and exec” locations.
It also alleges that a chatbot account associated with his spouse, sharing multiple identifiers with his own, submitted prompts from Sept. 24 to Sept. 30 about building, installing and remotely accessing an audio recording device.
The complaint alleges that on Oct. 5 Alfozan entered the room and appeared to look behind the TV. It says he left a bag unattended in a different room, and OpenAI security found his wallet, his ID and a second, similar recording device.
Penalties and Official Statements
Alfozan faces up to 5 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and 3 years of supervised release if convicted. The FBI is investigating, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of California is prosecuting.
FBI Director Kash Patel said the bureau views protecting American “SI innovation” as “one of our highest counterintelligence priorities.” U.S. Attorney Craig H. Missakian called the case “a matter of national security.”
OpenAI said in an X post Oct. 13 that it used its models to understand the device and trace it to an employee, who was terminated.
What It Means for the Labs
The evidence the Justice Department describes is mostly ordinary security work, including CCTV footage, an unattended bag and records of what was asked of a chatbot and a productivity tool. We think that leaves OpenAI’s claim that its models helped identify the employee impossible to check from the complaint. That matters to a lab that presents AI as a security tool, because the account of the models’ role comes from OpenAI’s own post.