US authorities have arrested former OpenAI engineer Abdulrahman Alfozan over allegations that he planted an encrypted recording device in an executive conference room at the artificial intelligence company’s San Francisco offices to capture confidential discussions about its technology and business strategy.

The US Department of Justice said Alfozan, 35, a Saudi national who joined OpenAI in July 2025, was arrested on 9 October and charged with attempting to intercept oral communications. He appeared in federal court on 13 October and is scheduled for a further hearing on 19 October.

According to the FBI complaint, the thumb-sized device was concealed in toilet paper and connected to a USB port on the back of a television. OpenAI discovered it on 30 September, two days after investigators allege it was installed. Its contents were encrypted, preventing the company from accessing the stored data.

The conference room was reserved for executives and their assistants, with meetings frequently covering proprietary research, product plans, commercial opportunities and government relationships, according to prosecutors. FBI director Kash Patel said Alfozan had allegedly concealed the device to “secretly capture sensitive communications about the company’s super intelligence technology”.

Investigators allege that Alfozan had used an AI productivity agent to seek information about internal meeting schedules, room capacities and executive locations. A chatbot account associated with his spouse was allegedly used to research the construction, installation and remote access of audio-recording equipment. Prompts from the account reportedly referenced identifiers associated with the device found at OpenAI.

OpenAI said it used its own AI models to analyse the device and trace its origins, helping identify the employee allegedly responsible. The company referred the matter to the FBI and terminated Alfozan’s employment. It said the investigation remained ongoing and that it was cooperating with authorities.

“At this time, we have no indications of this individual inappropriately accessing or exfiltrating model weights, source code, or customer data,” OpenAI said in a statement. The company did not report evidence that confidential information had been successfully recorded or removed.

Security personnel subsequently found a second, similar recording device in a bag Alfozan had left unattended in another room at the office, according to prosecutors. The bag also contained his wallet and identification. Surveillance footage allegedly showed him near the executive conference room before the first device was discovered.

Alfozan has not publicly commented on the allegations, and it was not immediately clear who was representing him legally. If convicted, he faces up to five years in prison, a $250,000 fine and three years of supervised release.

The case comes as OpenAI faces wider scrutiny over information security and AI safety, following its recent dismissal of three researchers over alleged violations of its confidential-information policies. The researchers disputed the circumstances of their departures.

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