FBI Arrests OpenAI Engineer Accused of Bugging Executive Office

The FBI has arrested an OpenAI engineer accused of planting a hidden recording device in an executive conference room at the company’s San Francisco office.

Abdulrahman Alfozan, 35, a Saudi national who joined OpenAI as an engineer in July 2025, was arrested Oct. 9 and appeared Tuesday in federal court in the Northern District of California. He is charged with using a device to intercept oral communications and faces up to five years in prison.

According to the Justice Department, OpenAI employees discovered the device Sept. 30 plugged into a USB port behind a television in a conference room used for confidential discussions. It had been concealed in toilet paper and installed about two days earlier, and its contents were encrypted.

Surveillance footage showed Alfozan near the room several times though he lacked authorization to enter it, prosecutors said. A second similar device was found in an unattended bag belonging to him.

OpenAI said it used its own AI models to analyze the device and identify the employee, then referred the case to the FBI. The company said it found no sign that model weights, source code or customer data were accessed, and that Alfozan was fired.

“Protecting American superintelligence innovation is critically important,” FBI Director Kash Patel said, calling counterintelligence one of the bureau’s highest priorities.

Alfozan remains in federal custody ahead of a detention hearing. Prosecutors said further charges, including trade secret theft or economic espionage, could follow.

The case is a cautionary tale for Pennsylvania’s growing tech sector, where AI firms and data centers are expanding and insider threats are drawing new scrutiny.