FBI updates on OpenAI spy device case: Saudi national arrested, ‘crime photos’ released

OpenAI fired an employee after a hidden recording device was discovered inside one of its San Francisco offices. Now, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has shared an official press release sharing an update on the spy device found at the ChatGPT-maker’s office.

It stated that the agency had arrested Abdulrahman Alfozan, a national of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on October 9. The 35-year-old has been charged with using an electronic, mechanical, or other device to intercept communications. As stated in the release, FBI Director Kash Patel said that “Abdulrahman Alfozan allegedly concealed a covert recording device inside his employer’s executive conference room to secretly capture sensitive communications about the company’s super intelligence technology,” said

OpenAI employees concealed spy device in toilet paper

As per the release, Abdulrahman Alfozan was employed as an engineer by OpenAI since July 2025.

On or about September 30, OpenAI personnel discovered a surreptitious audio recording device inserted into a USB port on the back of a television in an executive conference room inside one of their buildings in San Francisco. The device was concealed in toilet paper and was installed on or about September 28, the company determined.

The recording were encrypted, the agency said.Closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage inside OpenAI’s office showed that Alfozan appeared near the executive conference room on multiple dates prior to the device’s discovery, although he had no authority to access or to participate in meetings occurring in the executive conference room.

According to the complaint, meetings in the executive conference room where the device was discovered frequently involved discussions of highly confidential technical, commercial, and strategic information, including proprietary research, product plans, and business-development opportunities, as well as nonpublic information about Open AI’s technical progress and strategic decisions, capabilities, priorities, government engagements, and commercial relationships.According to the complaint, prior to September 28, Alfozan used a productivity tool to make multiple inquiries about Open AI’s building addresses, meeting rooms, meeting-room capacities and calendars, “leadership and exec” locations, and external partner meetings. Moreover, a chatbot account associated with Alfozan’s spouse submitted prompts between September 24 and September 30 related to building, customizing, installing, audio recording, testing, obfuscating, and remote accessing a device, including inquiries about “build[ing] a continuous audio recorder,” “customiz[ing] Wi-Fi .

. . connectivity,” “improv[ing] audio and live listening,” and “encrypt[ing] the SD card,” among other things.The same chatbot account also submitted prompts specifically related to Recording Device 1, including its custom header and unique MAC address, between September 27 and September 28, the agency added.OpenAI also alleges that Alfozan left a bag unattended in a different room in an OpenAI building on October 5. OpenAI security personnel found and opened Alfozan’s bag, inside which they discovered Alfozan’s wallet, ID and another recording device among other things.If convicted, Alfozan can face a maximum penalty of 5 years in prison and a $250,000 fine, followed by 3 years of supervised release.