OpenAI used AI to catch Saudi employee planting spy device, FBI arrests him

Saudi national Abdulrahman Alfozan has been arrested for allegedly planting a recording device at OpenAI. The company says it used AI to trace the origin of the device and identify Alfozan as the one who allegedly placed it inside the company.

In Short

• Device was concealed in toilet paper behind a conference-room television
• OpenAI used internal AI models to trace the device's origin
• Encrypted storage prevented security personnel from reviewing the captured contents

The FBI has arrested Abdulrahman Alfozan, a Saudi national who worked as an OpenAI engineer, for allegedly planting a recording device inside the company. OpenAI said that it used its AI models to understand and trace the origins of the recording device after the company found it in its office.

The US Department of Justice stated that Alfozan allegedly planned to “secretly capture sensitive communications” about OpenAI’s AI technology, with the recording device being installed inside one of OpenAI’s executive conference rooms at the company’s San Francisco office. Alfozan was arrested on October 9 and made his initial appearance in federal court on Tuesday.

Abdulrahman Alfozan, a 35-year-old Saudi national is a US permanent resident who joined OpenAI in July 2025. If convicted, Alfozan faces up to five years in prison, a $250,000 (roughly Rs 2.37 crore) fine and three years of supervised release.

OpenAI discovers recording device, uses AI to catch employee

As per OpenAI, its employees discovered the thumb-sized device on September 30 during a countersurveillance sweep. The device was concealed in toilet paper and inserted into a USB port on the back of a TV in the conference room. The device is said to have contained a microphone, detachable camera sensor and microSD storage.

After spotting the device, OpenAI claimed it used internal AI models to understand the device and trace its origin, allowing the company to identify Abdulrahman Alfozan. “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 said. OpenAI then informed FBI about the incident.

As per the press release, OpenAI determined that the device was installed on or about September 28. Though its contents were encrypted and could not be accessed.

Employee allegedly used AI chatbot to plan this attempt

Investigators allege that Alfozan used a productivity tool to get information about OpenAI’s buildings, meeting rooms, room capacities, calendars, executive locations and external partner meetings. Further, the Saudi national allegedly used an AI chatbot account associated with his spouse, to ask about “building, customizing, installing, audio recording, testing, obfuscating, and remote accessing a device” between September 24 and September 30.

The room, where Abdulrahman Alfozan allegedly planted the device, was frequently used for discussions involving highly confidential discussions between OpenAI executives. CCTV footage showed Alfozan near the room on several dates, although he was not authorised to access it or attend meetings there, according to the complaint.

On October 5, CCTV footage allegedly showed Abdulrahman Alfozan entering the conference room and looking behind the television. The same day, he left a bag unattended in another room. OpenAI security personnel searched it and found his wallet, identification and a second encrypted recording device similar to the first. Alfozan later recovered the bag from lost and found and reported that other belongings were missing, but did not mention the second device, prosecutors said.

OpenAI said that the company has found no signs of data being compromised. “At this time, we have no indications of this individual inappropriately accessing or exfiltrating model weights, source code, or customer data,” the company said. OpenAI terminated Alfozan’s contract following the incident.

Abdulrahman Alfozan is also a venture partner at the capital firm Raed Ventures. As per the Raed Ventures website, he served as an Engineering Lead at OpenAI, focusing on AI Agents and the data platform. Previously, he had stints at Meta, Microsoft and SAP. Alfozan holds a degree in Computer Science and Engineering from MIT.

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