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The FBI has arrested Abdulrahman Alfozan, a 35-year-old Saudi national and engineer at OpenAI, over a hidden listening device found in an executive conference room at the company's San Francisco offices, Al Jazeera reports. Prosecutors say he also booked a one-way flight to Saudi Arabia.
According to the Justice Department, the thumb-sized device had a microphone and could connect to a camera. It was hidden in toilet paper and plugged into a USB port behind a television, and the FBI says it went in around September 28. OpenAI found it on September 30 and contacted the FBI.
OpenAI then placed a camera in the room. According to Colorado Politics, footage from October 5 shows Alfozan entering and looking behind the television. Investigators later found a similar device in his personal bag. The data stored on the first device was encrypted and could not be read.
The FBI alleges he used an AI productivity tool to ask about building addresses, meeting rooms, room capacities and calendars, spaces he was not authorized to access. The complaint also says a chatbot account linked to his spouse was used to research how to build and conceal recording equipment.
He is charged with using or attempting to use a device to intercept oral communications. The charge carries up to five years in prison, a $250,000 fine and three years of supervised release. He was arrested on Friday, October 9, and made his first court appearance on Tuesday. His next hearing is October 19.
OpenAI said it has evidence he intended to place other listening devices in sensitive areas. It also said it has no indication he improperly accessed or took model weights, source code or customer data. The company has fired him.
Prosecutors told a judge he has the means and an incentive to flee. Al Jazeera reports he was due to fly out on October 12 with his wife and another family member. His lawyer, William Pernik, said Alfozan will contest the charges and his detention.
Alfozan is also listed as a venture partner at Raed Ventures, a Riyadh-based firm. The Justice Department is treating the case as a counterintelligence matter. Attorney General Todd Blanche said intellectual property theft “poses a serious threat to our national security.”
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