The FBI arrested OpenAI employee Abdulrahman Alfozan, 35, a Saudi national, on October 9 after a covert recording device was discovered in the company's executive conference room. OpenAI said the device had been planted days earlier and the employee was fired; the DOJ says surveillance footage placed him near and inside the room beforehand, and a bag found nearby contained his ID and a second similar device.
cnbc.com
· 2026-10-13
Federal prosecutors have charged Abdulrahman Alfozan, a 35-year-old OpenAI engineer hired in July 2025, with planting a hidden recording device in an executive conference room at the company's San Francisco headquarters. OpenAI says it discovered the device on September 30 plugged into a TV's USB port and concealed with toilet paper, then used its own AI models to trace it to Alfozan before alerting the FBI and firing him. Prosecutors allege he researched OpenAI's facilities and may have used a chatbot to learn how to build, hide and encrypt data from a recording device.
engadget.com
· 2026-10-13
OpenAI says it discovered a hidden surveillance device planted in an executive conference room by employee Abdulrahman Alfozan, who was fired and arrested by the FBI on October 9. Federal prosecutors charged him with illegally intercepting oral communications after the device, found hidden behind a TV's USB port, was linked to him via a camera OpenAI had installed. OpenAI says it has found no evidence the employee accessed or exfiltrated model weights, source code, or customer data.
techcrunch.com
· 2026-10-13
Federal prosecutors arrested OpenAI engineer Abdulrahman Alfozan, a 35-year-old Saudi national, after a hidden audio device was found plugged into a TV's USB port in an executive conference room at the company's San Francisco headquarters. Investigators say the device, concealed in toilet paper, was installed around September 28 and recorded encrypted data; a separate unattended bag containing Alfozan's wallet, ID and another recording device was also found. He faces charges of using or attempting to use a device to intercept oral communications and remains in custody.
sfstandard.com
· 2026-10-13
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