OpenAI employee arrested over alleged office recording device

The FBI arrested Abdulrahman Alfozan, a 35-year-old OpenAI employee, on 9 October after the company said it discovered a hidden recording device at its San Francisco headquarters and referred the matter to federal investigators. OpenAI said it identified Alfozan as the employee who had planted the device days earlier and terminated him.¹

Alleged device in conference room

According to the allegations cited in reporting on the case, Alfozan plugged an encrypted recording device into a television in an executive conference room on 28 September. The device was allegedly concealed within toilet paper. OpenAI said meetings in that room regularly involved confidential information, and a security sweep two days later uncovered the device.¹

The New York Times reported that the device had been made to avoid detection and that the employee intended to secretly record meetings in other sensitive areas. Those allegations have not been independently confirmed in the dossier. OpenAI said it found the hidden device in one of its offices before contacting the FBI.¹²

Investigation and allegations

Surveillance footage allegedly showed Alfozan moving around the meeting room before the device was discovered, according to reporting based on the indictment. The same reporting said that he submitted several prompts to an AI chatbot concerning internal OpenAI information. It also alleged that his spouse submitted prompts concerning the construction, installation, operation, testing, concealment and remote access of a recording device.¹

FBI agents allegedly found a second, identical recording device in a bag left unattended by Alfozan. If convicted, he could face up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000, according to the report. Alfozan had not publicly commented on the indictment, it said.¹

OpenAI response

OpenAI said it had no indication that Alfozan had improperly obtained or removed model weights, source code or customer data. “At this time, we have no indications of this individual inappropriately accessing or exfiltrating model weights, source code, or customer data,” the company said.¹

The company said its investigation was continuing and stated that it treated the protection of its technology, data and staff as a matter of national importance. In a separate matter, OpenAI said it fired three safety researchers over alleged disclosures of sensitive material, stating: “They violated clear policies on handling sensitive information.”¹

The case emerges during a period of reported internal change at the company. David Robinson, described as a top safety leader, resigned while citing a broken company culture, according to one report. OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman also argued in an interview that society should tolerate “bad things” caused by AI in exchange for its advantages.¹