FBI arrests Saudi OpenAI engineer accused of planting recording device in conference room

United States federal authorities have arrested a Saudi Arabian engineer employed by OpenAI for allegedly installing a hidden audio recording device inside an executive conference room at the company’s San Francisco office.

According to HuffPost, the suspect, Abdulrahman Alfozan, was arrested following an investigation into the device discovered on September 30.

The US Justice Department said Alfozan, 35, had worked at OpenAI since July 2025.

Investigators alleged that the recording device was concealed behind a television in a conference room used for confidential executive discussions.

OpenAI said its internal artificial intelligence models helped identify the suspected employee and trace the device.

“At this time, we have no indications of this individual inappropriately accessing or exfiltrating model weights, source code, or customer data. The employee was terminated,” the company stated.

The case has been referred to the FBI for investigation.

Alfozan faces federal charges involving unlawful interception of oral communications and could receive five years’ imprisonment if convicted.