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Tech · San Francisco

FBI arrests OpenAI employee accused of planting recording device in executive conference room

OpenAI says it has no indication the employee accessed model weights, source code or customer data.

By West Coast News staff ·
The Phillip Burton Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse in San Francisco
The Phillip Burton Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse in San Francisco.

OpenAI said on Tuesday it alerted the FBI after discovering that an employee allegedly planted a hidden recording device in one of its executive conference rooms, TechCrunch reported.

The employee, named by federal prosecutors as Saudi national Abdulrahman Alfozan, was fired and arrested on Oct. 9, about a week after the device was found. Prosecutors in the Northern District of California charged him with using an electronic device to intercept oral communications.

OpenAI said it used its internal AI models to analyze the "sophisticated" device. "At this time, we have no indications of this individual inappropriately accessing or exfiltrating model weights, source code, or customer data," the company said.

Spokesperson Nate Evans said the employee joined OpenAI in July 2025 and worked on the product team.

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