Federal prosecutors say Abdulrahman Alfozan concealed an encrypted audio device in a conference room used for sensitive executive meetings.
SAN FRANCISCO, CA — A 35-year-old OpenAI engineer has been arrested and charged with allegedly placing a covert recording device in an executive conference room at the artificial intelligence company’s San Francisco offices, according to a federal complaint unsealed this week.
Abdulrahman Alfozan, a Saudi national who had worked as an engineer at OpenAI since July 2025, was arrested Oct. 9 on a charge of using or attempting to use an electronic or mechanical device to intercept oral communications. He made his initial appearance in federal court Tuesday and remained in federal custody. Prosecutors said the case centers on a recording device found Sept. 30 in a room where OpenAI executives regularly discussed confidential technical, business and strategic matters.
According to the complaint, OpenAI personnel found the device connected to a USB port on the back of a television in the executive conference room. The device had been concealed in toilet paper, and OpenAI determined it had been installed around Sept. 28. Investigators said its stored contents were encrypted. The complaint does not establish that confidential conversations were successfully recorded or obtained by anyone, and authorities have not publicly identified a motive.
Federal prosecutors said closed-circuit television footage showed Alfozan near the executive conference room on several dates before the device was discovered. The complaint says he was not authorized to enter the room or participate in meetings held there. Prosecutors said meetings in the space frequently involved proprietary research, product plans, business-development opportunities, government engagements and other nonpublic information about OpenAI’s technology and strategy.
The complaint also describes digital activity that investigators say preceded the discovery. Prosecutors allege Alfozan used a workplace productivity tool to seek information about OpenAI buildings, meeting rooms, room capacities, calendars and locations associated with leadership and outside-partner meetings. Authorities also cited prompts submitted through a chatbot account associated with Alfozan’s spouse that they say shared multiple identifiers and other attributes with his own account. The prompts concerned recording equipment and related technical features, according to the complaint.
Prosecutors further allege that Alfozan entered the executive conference room on Oct. 5 and appeared to inspect the area behind the television where the first device had been placed. That same day, the complaint says, he left a bag unattended in another room in an OpenAI building. Security personnel opened the bag and found his wallet and identification along with a second recording device that authorities described as similar to the first.
OpenAI said it referred the matter to the FBI after discovering the hidden device and used its own artificial intelligence models to help understand the hardware and determine where it had come from. The company said it gradually restricted the employee’s access as the investigation developed and later terminated him in coordination with federal authorities. OpenAI said it has no indication that the employee improperly accessed or removed model weights, source code or customer data.
The federal charge concerns the alleged interception of oral communications rather than theft of OpenAI’s software or model data. FBI officials characterized the investigation as a national security matter because executive meetings could involve sensitive information about advanced artificial intelligence. Those statements describe the government’s allegations and investigative concerns; the complaint itself is not proof of guilt, and Alfozan is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.
If convicted of the charged offense, Alfozan could face a maximum sentence of five years in prison, a $250,000 fine and up to three years of supervised release, according to the Justice Department. Any sentence would be determined by a judge under federal law and sentencing guidelines. Alfozan is next scheduled to appear in federal court Oct. 19 for a detention hearing before U.S. Magistrate Judge Alex G. Tse.
The FBI investigation remains active, and OpenAI said it is continuing to cooperate with federal authorities. Prosecutors have not publicly established who, if anyone, received information from the devices, whether confidential conversations were captured or what Alfozan allegedly intended to do with any recordings.
Author note: Last updated October 14, 2026.