OpenAI engineer arrested in bugging of executive conference room

An OpenAI engineer has been arrested on suspicion of hiding an audio recording device in an executive conference room at the company’s San Francisco headquarters, federal prosecutors said Tuesday.

Abdulrahman Alfozan, 35, a Saudi national, was arrested Friday and charged with using or attempting to use a device to intercept oral communications. He made his initial appearance in federal court Tuesday and remains in custody.

An unattended bag found in the company’s offices contained Alfozan’s wallet and identification, as well as a recording device, according to the U.S. attorney’s office in San Francisco.

Alfozan has worked as an engineer at OpenAI since July 2025, prosecutors said.

OpenAI personnel found the device Sept. 30. It was plugged into a USB port on the back of a television in an executive conference room and had been concealed in toilet paper, the complaint says. The company determined it was installed around Sept. 28, and its contents were encrypted.

Surveillance footage shows Alfozan near the room on multiple dates before the discovery, though he was not authorized to enter the room or attend meetings there, prosecutors said. Meetings in the room frequently involved confidential technical, commercial, and strategic information, including proprietary research, product plans, and government engagements, according to the complaint.