Spy device in OpenAI office? Employee arrested over allegedly planting ‘sophisticated’ recording device

An OpenAI engineer has been charged with allegedly planting a hidden recording device inside the company's San Francisco office. Abdulrahman Alfozan, a Saudi national, has been booked after the company discovered the hidden device and alerted the FBI. The man was caught on September 30 hiding a “sophisticated recording device” inside OpenAI's office to secretly intercept conversations.

OpenAI claims that it used its AI models to trace the device's placement to an employee, helping identify the alleged insider threat. According to reports, the recording device was hidden inside a USB port at the back of a television in a conference room.

The prosecutors revealed that the device was wrapped in toilet paper to conceal it and then inserted into the TV’s USB port. Alongside a hidden recording device in the meeting room, investigators also found a similar customized device in Alfozan's personal bag.

OpenAI shared a X post in which it revealed how its AI models helped investigate the hidden recording device and identify the employee allegedly responsible for planting it. The company also claimed that it has evidence that the employee intended to plant additional recording devices in sensitive areas of its offices. As of now, the alleged motive is said to be secretly recording meetings, potentially capturing confidential conversations.

"At this time, we have no indications of this individual inappropriately accessing or exfiltrating ​model weights, source code, or customer data. The employee was terminated," the company said.

OpenAI has reported the matter to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and the investigation is underway to establish what happened and gather evidence. “Abdulrahman Alfozan allegedly concealed a covert recording device inside his employer's executive conference room to secretly capture sensitive communications about the company’s super intelligence technology,”FBI Director Kash Patel said in a statement mentioned in a Reuters report.

Alfozan has been working with OpenAI since July 2025, as per a Justice ​Department statement. He has previously worked with Meta and Microsoft. He has been a permanent ​resident of the US since September ​2020. If found guilty, Alfozan could be sentenced to up to five years in prison, fined $250,000, and placed under supervised release for three years.