On 13 October, federal prosecutors made public a criminal complaint against Abdulrahman Alfozan, an OpenAI engineer arrested by the FBI on 9 October. They allege he concealed an audio recorder in a conference room used by company executives. Alfozan, 35, is a Saudi national who joined OpenAI’s product team in July 2025. The company fired him on the day of the arrest, and prosecutors say he was not allowed into that room.
What prosecutors allege
They say that around 28 September he pushed the recorder into a USB socket behind a television and covered it with toilet paper. The hardware is a Seeed Xiao ESP32-S3 Sense board, sold online for roughly $14. OpenAI has said the board could encrypt what it captured and could monitor sound.
Before the device was placed, prosecutors say, Alfozan asked a chatbot how to keep a recorder running, how to encrypt an SD card, how to connect it over Wi-Fi, and how to listen from elsewhere. An SD card is a small chip that stores files. He also, they say, used an internal staff tool to look up executive meetings and room calendars.
The charge is using, or trying to use, a device to intercept oral communications, meaning to capture speech in secret. The penalties described are a prison term of as long as five years, a fine of $250,000, and three years of supervised release, which is monitoring by a court after a prison term.
How the device was found
OpenAI’s security team came across the recorder on 30 September while checking the office in the usual way. The company said its own AI models, software that can analyse patterns and answer questions, helped it understand the device and link it to an employee who had put it there a few days before. OpenAI called the object a "sophisticated recording device" and passed the case to the FBI.
The FBI is the United States’ lead federal investigative service. OpenAI said agents and prosecutors moved quickly, that the investigation is still open, and that the company will keep assisting.
On 5 October, security staff found a second recorder in a bag he had left in a different room of an OpenAI building. Cameras that day showed him looking behind the television where the first device was.
OpenAI says it has "no indications" that source code, model weights, or customer data were taken. Source code is the text of a program. Model weights are the saved numbers an AI system uses when it produces a reply.
FBI Director Kash Patel said the plan was aimed at "sensitive communications about the company’s super intelligence technology." Prosecutors have not alleged that a foreign government was involved, and they have not named a buyer for any recordings. The reason for the alleged recording has not been established.
The OpenAI engineer arrested on 9 October is next due in court on 19 October, before Magistrate Judge Alex G. Tse in San Francisco. Reports say he has remained in custody and that his first appearance was on Tuesday, the day the complaint was made public.
Timeline: what has happened so far
- July 2025: Alfozan joins OpenAI’s product team.
- Around 28 September: Prosecutors say he conceals a recorder behind a television in an executive conference room.
- 30 September: OpenAI security finds the device during a routine check.
- 5 October: A second recorder is found in a bag in a different room; cameras show him at the television.
- 9 October: OpenAI dismisses him and the FBI arrests him.
- 13 October: Prosecutors make the complaint public. The next hearing is on 19 October.
Aasan alfaaz mein
OpenAI ke ek engineer ko FBI ne 9 October ko giraftar kar liya hai. Ilzaam hai ke unhon ne executives ke meeting room mein, TV ke peechay, awaz record karne wali machine chhupa di thi. Company kehti hai ke customer ka data, program ka code, ya AI ki settings is waqye mein nahi liye gaye. Unki agli peshi 19 October ko San Francisco mein hai.
