An OpenAI engineer has been arrested and charged with allegedly planting a secret recording device in an executive meeting room at the ChatGPT maker’s San Francisco offices, US authorities said on Tuesday.
Abdulrahman Alfozan, 35, a Saudi national, is accused of installing the device behind a television in a room used for confidential discussions about OpenAI’s research, products and business plans.
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According to the US Department of Justice, the device was concealed in toilet paper and plugged into a USB port on the back of the television. OpenAI security personnel discovered it on September 30, two days after investigators believe it was installed.
Alfozan, who had worked as an engineer at OpenAI since July 2025, was arrested on October 9 and appeared in federal court on October 13.
CCTV footage and chatbot searches
Investigators say CCTV footage showed Alfozan near the executive conference room on several occasions before the device was discovered. However, he was not authorised to access the room or attend meetings there.
The criminal complaint also alleges that he used a productivity tool to search for information about OpenAI’s office buildings, meeting rooms, room capacities and executive meeting schedules.
Prosecutors also say a chatbot account associated with his spouse was used to submit technical questions about building and concealing recording equipment.
Between September 24 and 30, the account reportedly contained queries about continuous audio recording, Wi-Fi connectivity, remote listening and encrypting storage cards.
Investigators said some searches referred to technical identifiers associated with the device found in the meeting room.
Second recording device discovered
On October 5, surveillance footage allegedly captured Alfozan entering the executive meeting room and looking behind the television where the first device had been installed.
That same day, OpenAI security personnel found another recording device inside a bag he had left unattended in a different room.
The bag also contained his wallet and identification documents, according to the complaint.
Authorities said the first device contained encrypted data. It remains unclear what conversations, if any, were successfully recorded.
OpenAI says no evidence of customer data theft
OpenAI said it reported the discovery to the FBI and terminated the employee.
The company said it used its own AI models to help investigate the device and identify the employee allegedly responsible.
“At this time, we have no indications of this individual inappropriately accessing or exfiltrating model weights, source code, or customer data,” OpenAI said.
The company added that it was cooperating with the continuing FBI investigation.
Prosecutors have not publicly established a motive for the alleged surveillance.
Alfozan has been charged with using or attempting to use an electronic device to intercept oral communications.
If convicted, he faces up to five years in prison, a $250,000 fine, and up to three years of supervised release.
He remains in federal custody, with a detention hearing scheduled for October 19.
The court has not proven the allegations.