Abdulrahman Alfozan, a 35-year-old Saudi engineer employed by OpenAI for about a year, appeared in federal court this week after the FBI arrested him on charges of attempting to intercept oral communications. The agency accused Alfozan of planting a hidden recording device behind a television in one of the company's secure conference rooms.
OpenAI staff discovered the device, wrapped in toilet paper and plugged into a TV, on September 30. The room regularly hosts discussions about "highly confidential technical, commercial and strategic information" and OpenAI's government and commercial relationships, according to the court complaint. Alfozan had no authorization to attend meetings there.
Between August 17 and September 16, Alfozan repeatedly asked a productivity AI assistant about meeting room availability and schedules, the complaint states. Questions included "how about external partners, where would they usually meet with OpenAI at" and "can you list today's meeting in this room." In September, he used a chatbot associated with his spouse to ask how to build, install and remotely access a recording device.
CCTV footage showed Alfozan near the conference room eight times in September. On October 5, cameras captured him entering the room and appearing to look behind the television where the first device sat. Security personnel later found a second recording device in an unattended bag Alfozan left in a different room that same day. The bag also contained his wallet and ID.
OpenAI stated it used its own AI models to analyze the device. The company said it found "no indications of this individual inappropriately accessing or exfiltrating model weights, source code, or customer data."
The complaint does not specify what Alfozan intended to do with the recordings. His defense attorney, William Pernik, told the BBC the allegations appear "wholly out of character" for Alfozan and called him a legal permanent resident educated in the US since 2020. Pernik said his client is presumed innocent and asked the public to withhold judgment pending full disclosure of evidence.
Alfozan's contract with OpenAI has been terminated. A detention hearing is scheduled for October 19 to determine if he remains in custody during proceedings. If convicted, he faces up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.