The U.S. Department of Justice revealed on Tuesday that Abdulrahman Alfozan, 35, faced charges related to illegal interception of oral communications. Alfozan, who joined OpenAI in July 2025, was taken into custody on October 9 following the discovery of hidden surveillance equipment at the company's San Francisco location.
OpenAI's security team identified the first recording device on September 30, finding it inserted into a USB port positioned behind a television in an executive conference room. According to DOJ filings, the device had been wrapped in toilet paper and installed approximately two days earlier, with the unit containing encrypted data.
The DOJ stated in its press release: "On or about Sept. 30, OpenAI personnel discovered a surreptitious audio recording device (Recording Device 1) 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 space regularly hosted discussions involving proprietary research details, product roadmaps, technical specifications, commercial partnerships, and interactions with government entities.
Security footage analysis revealed Alfozan positioned near the conference room on several occasions despite lacking authorization to participate in meetings conducted there. The complaint also documented that Alfozan leveraged a productivity application to query details about OpenAI's facilities, room layouts, where executives were located, and when meetings were scheduled.
Investigators discovered that a chatbot account registered to Alfozan's spouse had submitted queries regarding construction and concealment of recording equipment. The questions covered topics such as building continuous audio capture systems, adjusting wireless network settings, enhancing remote listening functionality, and protecting storage media through encryption.
Between September 27 and 28, the same chatbot account generated prompts specifically referencing Recording Device 1, including its custom header configuration and distinct MAC address, according to DOJ allegations.
On October 5, camera recordings captured Alfozan returning to the conference room and examining the area behind the television where the device was positioned. That same day, OpenAI security discovered a second comparable recording device inside a bag Alfozan had left unattended in a separate room.
OpenAI announced via X that it deployed its own AI systems to analyze the device and determine its origin. "We used our models to understand the device and where it had come from, identifying that a specific employee had planted it a few days earlier," the company stated.
The company terminated Alfozan's employment and notified the FBI about the incident. OpenAI noted: "At this time, we have no indications of this individual inappropriately accessing or exfiltrating model weights, source code, or customer data."
Conviction on the charges carries potential penalties of up to five years imprisonment and a $250,000 fine.