OpenAI says FBI arrested former employee accused of planting hidden recording device in San Francisco office

OpenAI said Tuesday that the FBI arrested a former employee accused of planting a covert audio recording device in an executive conference room at the company's San Francisco headquarters.

Federal prosecutors identified the suspect as Abdulrahman Alfozan, 35, a Saudi national. He was arrested on October 9 and is accused of attempting to intercept private conversations. OpenAI said he was fired after the device was discovered.

The company said it used its own AI models and internal security tools to help identify the suspected employee and trace the origin of the device. OpenAI said there was no evidence that model weights, source code or customer data were accessed or stolen.

The device was discovered around September 30, concealed behind a television in a conference room used for discussions involving sensitive technical, commercial and strategic information. The FBI investigation remains ongoing.