An OpenAI engineer, Abdulrahman Alfozan, 35, was arrested last Friday on suspicion of placing a concealed audio recording device in an executive conference room at the company’s San Francisco headquarters, federal prosecutors said Tuesday. Alfozan, a Saudi national, has been charged with using or attempting to use a device to intercept oral communications and remains in custody after his initial court appearance.
The recording device was discovered on September 30, plugged into a USB port behind a television in the conference room and hidden inside toilet paper, according to the U.S. attorney’s office in San Francisco. The device was believed to have been installed around September 28, with its contents encrypted. Surveillance footage showed Alfozan near the room multiple times before the device was found, despite not being authorized to enter or attend meetings there.
The conference room regularly hosted meetings involving confidential technical, commercial, and strategic information, including proprietary research, product plans, and government engagements, prosecutors said. Alfozan has been employed as an engineer at OpenAI since July 2025. The incident highlights concerns about internal security risks at leading AI companies amid growing competition and sensitive technology development.
Alfozan’s arrest and charges were announced by the U.S. attorney’s office in San Francisco on Tuesday. The case is ongoing, with Alfozan currently in federal custody pending further legal proceedings related to the interception of communications at OpenAI.