SAUDI NATIONAL CHARGED OVER HIDDEN RECORDING DEVICE AT OPENAI

Federal prosecutors have charged Abdulrahman Alfozan, a Saudi national who worked as an engineer at OpenAI, with secretly planting a recording device inside an executive conference room at the company's San Francisco office. OpenAI said it discovered a "sophisticated recording device" hidden in the room and alerted the FBI. The device, concealed in toilet paper and inserted into a USB port on the back of a television, was encrypted, according to prosecutors. OpenAI said it used its own AI models to establish how the device had got there, identifying the employee who had allegedly planted it days earlier. Alfozan, who had worked at OpenAI since July 2025, was arrested on 9 October, according to the Department of Justice. He has been fired, the company said.

FBI Director Kash Patel said Alfozan "allegedly concealed a covert recording device inside his employer's executive conference room to secretly capture sensitive communications", with one account saying this concerned the company's artificial intelligence product and another saying it concerned "super intelligence technology". The Department of Justice said Alfozan was not authorised to access the conference room and that footage showed him near it on multiple days before the device was found. Prosecutors allege he used a chatbot and a separate productivity tool to research sensitive locations inside OpenAI and how to build, install and conceal audio recording equipment, including prompts about customising Wi-Fi connectivity and encrypting an SD card. OpenAI employees found the device on 30 September, two days after prosecutors say it was installed, and prosecutors allege Alfozan returned to inspect it on 5 October. The Department of Justice said a bag belonging to Alfozan was also found in the building around 5 October, containing his wallet, identification and a second recording device similar to the first.

OpenAI, which makes the ChatGPT chatbot, said it has no indication that source code, model weights or customer data were inappropriately accessed or taken. The company said protecting its technology, data and people is "a matter of national importance". Alfozan faces a federal charge of using or attempting to use an electronic or mechanical device to intercept oral communications. The FBI said it moved quickly to make an arrest once the device was discovered.