A Saudi national working at OpenAI was arrested on October 9 for allegedly hiding an audio recording device inside a conference room used by company leadership.
According to a press release from the U.S. Department of Justice, Abdulrahman Alfozan, 35, concealed the device wrapped in toilet paper inside a USB port on a television. The room was used for confidential discussions about research, product plans, and business strategy. Alfozan had been working as an engineer at OpenAI since July 2025 but didn't have access to the room. A second recording device was found in his bag.
OpenAI said there are "no indications of this individual inappropriately accessing or exfiltrating model weights, source code, or customer data." The employee has been fired.
FBI Director Kash Patel called protecting American "super intelligence innovations" "one of our highest counterintelligence priorities." If convicted, Alfozan faces up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
The spy tool was built with chatbot prompts
Alfozan allegedly built the surveillance device with help from "a chatbot." Whether it was ChatGPT isn't specified. According to the indictment, a chatbot account linked to his wife was used between September 24 and 30 to enter a series of prompts. They covered how to build a "continuous audio recorder," how to adjust Wi-Fi connectivity, how to improve "audio and live listening," and how to encrypt the SD card, among other things.
The account shared several matching identifiers with Alfozan's own chatbot account. Prompts that directly referenced the recovered recording device, including its MAC address, were also entered through it. In short, the OpenAI engineer apparently vibe-coded his spy gear.
The relationship between OpenAI and the Gulf states has grown over several years, driven by OpenAI's rising need for capital and infrastructure. The UAE and Saudi Arabia are the key players. MGX from the UAE has repeatedly shown up as a partner or financial backer, including in the Stargate project. In May 2025, OpenAI and G42 jointly announced "Stargate UAE," a project that would make ChatGPT free across the UAE. A deal with the Trump administration made it possible by allowing delivery of up to 500,000 high-performance AI chips per year, a sharp turn from the export restrictions Biden had put in place.
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