Saudi OpenAI engineer charged after hidden recording device found at office

A Saudi national working as an OpenAI engineer was arrested after allegedly planting a covert recording device inside an executive conference room at the company’s San Francisco office, federal authorities announced Tuesday.

Abdulrahman Alfozan, 35, was arrested Oct. 9 and charged with using or attempting to use a device to intercept oral communications, according to the Department of Justice.

“FBI and partners arrested this individual after he allegedly concealed a recording device inside his employer’s executive conference room to secretly capture sensitive communications about the company’s super intelligence tech,” FBI Director Kash Patel wrote on X on Tuesday.

“Protecting American SI innovation is critically important and FBI views it as one of our highest counterintelligence priorities,” Patel added.

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The device, concealed in toilet paper, had allegedly been installed two days earlier. (Department of Justice)

Attorney General Todd Blanche said the alleged attempt was taken “extremely seriously.”

“This alleged attempt by a Saudi national to steal sensitive communications from OpenAI was taken extremely seriously,” Blanche wrote on X. 

“Theft of intellectual property involving cutting-edge super intelligence technology poses a serious threat to our national security,” he continued. “[The Justice Department] will continue to take swift action alongside federal law enforcement and our partners at [The Office of the Director of National Intelligence] to protect American innovation and safeguard our nation.”

OpenAI discovered the encrypted device Sept. 30 plugged into a USB port on the back of a television in a conference room used for “highly confidential” discussions involving proprietary research, product plans and business opportunities, prosecutors said.

The device, concealed in toilet paper, had allegedly been installed two days earlier.

OpenAI told FOX Business its technical surveillance countermeasures team discovered the device during a Sept. 30 sweep of the conference room. 

The company said it has evidence Alfozan intended to deploy additional recording devices in sensitive areas of its offices to secretly record meetings.

Security footage showed Alfozan, who had worked as an OpenAI engineer since July 2025, near the conference room multiple times before the device was discovered, despite lacking authorization to access the room, according to the complaint.

Prosecutors said Alfozan had also searched for information about OpenAI’s buildings, meeting rooms, calendars, executive locations and external partner meetings.

A chatbot account associated with Alfozan’s spouse that shared identifiers with his account submitted prompts about building and…