Saudi man charged with planting 'sophisticated' recording device in OpenAI office

13 October 2026, 22: 19 BST. Updated 13 minutes ago.

Key points

• If discovered guilty, he faces up to five years in prison and a fine of $250, 000 (£187, 000).
• Alfozan has been working as an engineer at OpenAI since July 2025, prosecutors say.
• A Saudi national has been charged with secretly planting a recording device in one of OpenAI's offices in California, federal prosecutors confirmed.
• On 30 September, OpenAI employees discovered the device – two days after prosecutors say it had been installed.
• OpenAI remarked it had discovered a "sophisticated recording device" hidden in their San Francisco office and alerted the FBI.

Notably, a Saudi national has been charged with secretly planting a recording device in one of OpenAI's offices in California, federal prosecutors confirmed.

Abdulrahman Alfozan, who worked at the AI firm as an engineer, was charged federally with using or endeavoring to employ an electronic, mechanical, or other device to intercept oral communications.

OpenAI remarked it had discovered a "sophisticated recording device" hidden in their San Francisco office and alerted the FBI. The firm stated it applied its AI models to track that it had been planted by an employee.

Prosecutors say the device, wrapped in toilet paper, was discovered inserted in a USB port on the back of a TV in an executive conference room.

OpenAI, the maker of the popular chatbot ChatGPT, remarked that it has no indication that source code, model weights or customer data were inappropriately accessed or taken in the incident. It remarked the employee has been fired.

According to the complaint, Alfozan "allegedly concealed a covert recording device inside his employer's executive conference room to secretly capture sensitive communications, " FBI Director Kash Patel remarked in an official note.

According to Patel, the alleged goal was to capture information concerning the company's AI product.

On 30 September, OpenAI employees discovered the device – two days after prosecutors say it had been installed. The device was encrypted, prosecutors remarked.

OpenAI remarked they were able to apply their AI models "to understand the device and where it had come from, identifying that a specific employee had planted it a few days earlier".

According to the FBI, the suspect applied a "productivity tool" and a "chatbot" to research sensitive locations at OpenAI and how to secretly place audio equipment.

Chatbot prompts that he is alleged to have searched include "building, customizing, installing, audio recording, testing, obfuscating, and remote accessing a device", prosecutors allege.

He is additionally accused of using the chatbot to ask concerning "'build a continuous audio recorder, ' 'customiz Wi-Fi. Connectivity, ' 'improv audio and live listening, ' and 'encrypt the SD card'".

On 5 October, prosecutors say he allegedly returned to inspect the device in the office room. Prosecutors applied CCTV camera footage to link him to the scene.

That same day, Alfozan left a bag unattended in a different part of the building. As well as another recording device that was similar to the one discovered in the office conference room, prosecutors stated, a security team for OpenAI opened it to find his wallet and ID.

Alfozan appeared in court on Tuesday. It's unclear whether he has legal representation.

Taken together, the developments around saudi man charged with planting ' sophisticated' recording device in OpenAI office point to a situation that is still moving, and the coming days should bring more clarity.