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OpenAI Employee Arrested for Secretly Planting Recording Device
Confirmed
In Short: An OpenAI engineer was arrested after a hidden recording device was found in the company's San Francisco headquarters.
An OpenAI engineer was arrested by the FBI after the company discovered a hidden recording device in one of its executive conference rooms, according to reports from Aol (United Kingdom) and Turkiyetoday (Türkiye).
Aol (United Kingdom) reported that the device was concealed within toilet paper and attached behind a monitor in an executive meeting room, while Turkiyetoday (Türkiye) noted that the device was found behind a television.
Both outlets agreed that the device was discovered on September 30 and that the employee, identified as Abdulrahman Alfozan, was arrested on charges of using a device to intercept oral communications.
According to Aol (United Kingdom), Alfozan allegedly submitted multiple prompts to chatbots about building and customizing a continuous audio recorder, improving audio and live listening, and encrypting the SD card.
Turkiyetoday (Türkiye) reported that the FBI found a second identical recording device in a bag left unattended by Alfozan.
Both sources confirmed that Alfozan faces up to five years in prison and $250,000 in fines if convicted.
OpenAI stated that the security breach did not involve inappropriate access to model weights, source code, or customer data, and that the company's security program is designed to protect against insider risks and cybercriminals.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman acknowledged in a recent interview that the world should accept 'bad things' happening with AI in exchange for its benefits.
OpenAI terminated Alfozan and conducted a security sweep after discovering the device, highlighting the company's commitment to protecting its technology, data, and people.
Background
An OpenAI engineer, identified as Abdulrahman Alfozan, a 35-year-old Saudi national, was arrested by the FBI after the company discovered a sophisticated recording device in one of its executive conference rooms.
What's confirmed
- OpenAI said it has found a hidden recording device in one of its offices and has referred the matter to the FBI.
- If convicted, Alfozan faces five years in prison and up to $250,000 in fines.
- In a statement on Tuesday, the San Francisco-based AI company said it discovered the “sophisticated recording device” and used one of its “models to understand the device and where it had come from”.
- Alfozan has been “charged with using or endeavoring to use an electronic, mechanical, or other device to intercept oral communications,” the DOJ said.
- An engineer at OpenAI allegedly concealed an audio recording device in a piece of toilet paper and attached it behind a monitor inside an executive conference room at one of the company’s San Francisco offices, according to a criminal complaint unsealed on Tuesday.
What's still developing
- Last week, OpenAI announced it had terminated three safety researchers for allegedly sharing sensitive information in what the company called “a breach of trust”.
- Related: The new Darth Vader: how tech execs became the film villains of our age OpenAI said that it was “grateful to the agents and prosecutors who moved quickly to make an arrest” and the investigation is continuing.
- In June, an agent hacked Australia’s university healthcare system, and earlier this month, California’s attorney general, Rob Bonta, issued an investigative subpoena to OpenAI over rogue hacking.
- The same chatbot account allegedly made inquiries that referenced unique identifiers of the device discovered in OpenAI’s offices.
- Around the same time, David Robinson, a top safety leader resigned from the company, citing a “broken” company culture and warning that AI developers are not “being nearly careful enough” with the rapidly advancing technology.
- The device was likely planted on September 28, and OpenAI found it on September 30 and quickly determined that its contents were encrypted, the FBI said.
- Alfozan didn’t join OpenAI until July 2025, the company told Fortune in a statement, while Alfozan’s personal LinkedIn says he joined the company in Sept. 2025.
- The unnamed employee joined OpenAI from Apple and then returned after six months.
- FBI Arrests Saudi OpenAI Employee Over Recording Device Security breach at ChatGPT maker raises new AI safety concerns amid scrutiny PUBLISHED: Tue, Oct 13, 2026, 10:06 PM UTC | UPDATED: Tue, Oct 13, 2026, 10:06 PM UTC Photo: Modern glass and steel office building exterior in San Francisco, daytime.
- OpenAI said that the employee had placed a device built to evade detection and that he had planned to secretly record meetings in other sensitive spaces.
- The suspect, 35-year-old Abdulrahman Alfozan, appeared in a US District Court today on charges of spying, according to the US Justice Department, which described the case as a matter of national security.
- Bloomberg 's Mark Gurman has suggested Apple will release an "iPhone Duo Max" in the coming years, highlighting why Apple chose the "Duo" moniker over other names. In the months leading up to Apple's iPhone Duo unveiling, Gurman reported that employees within Apple had begun referring to the device as the "iPhone Ultra," possibly having been influenced by media coverage of the device and leaker speculation. In the end, however, Apple chose to go with a three-letter "Duo" suffix, which Gurman says matches Air and Pro, and leaves room for additional suffixes that wouldn't have worked with "Ultra."