FBI Arrests OpenAI Employee Over Hidden Recording Device
Original: FBI arrests OpenAI employee accused of planting hidden recording device in conference room
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FBI arrested OpenAI employee Abdulrahman Alfozan on Oct. 9, 2026, after he allegedly planted a covert recording device in an executive conference room at OpenAI's San Francisco office. He faces up to 5 years in prison.
OpenAI discovered a hidden recording device plugged into a USB port on the back of a conference room television, then alerted the FBI. The suspect, Saudi national Abdulrahman Alfozan, had joined OpenAI's product team in July 2025. He was fired and arrested on October 9, roughly one week after the device was found.
OpenAI said it used its own internal AI models to analyze the device, describing it as containing "advanced encryption, audio monitoring capabilities, and a mechanism for transferring data designed to evade monitoring." Alfozan was caught after a camera OpenAI had placed behind the TV recorded him looking at the device's hiding spot.
Federal prosecutors with the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of California charged him with using an electronic device to intercept oral communications — effectively covert recording without consent. FBI Director Kash Patel said the scheme aimed to "capture sensitive communications about the company's super intelligence technology."
OpenAI stated it has "no indications of this individual inappropriately accessing or exfiltrating model weights, source code, or customer data." Neither Alfozan nor his attorney responded to requests for comment.