Workers at OpenAI, Anthropic made to ditch company logos as it makes them targets for spies, seduction

Top AI workers in Silicon Valley are being told to hide company logos when they go out in public. Working for some of the most popular AI companies can make them targets for spies and angry protesters.

OpenAI tells employees not to wear clothing with its logo outside the office. It also trains them to watch out for spies who offer money, friendship or romance to get secret information.

Anthropic, which has just filed paperwork to sell shares on the stock market in what analysts predict could be a record-breaking initial public offering, has almost completely banned clothing and other items with its logo. It reminds employees to hide their work badges when leaving the office. The company has also reported people trying to take pictures of its offices.

“I strongly support this approach,” Miao Hong, managing partner of Silicon Valley Future Capital and an investor in OpenAI and Anthropic, told the Post.

Hong said he often sees people approach AI employees to try to get inside information. He said he cannot tell what these people really want.

“Everyone wants to find out about developments and information at the cutting edge of technology. They want firsthand information. They want to talk to these employees, but the employees generally avoid discussing anything,” he told The Post.

The father of an Anthropic employee said his son and his coworkers avoid talking about their jobs after work.

“I also pay attention to safety and remind my child to be careful, because he can easily become a target. They try not to talk about their work at all. They keep it more about sports, hobbies, hiking and food,” the father, who asked not to be named, told the Post.

One of the biggest fears is spying.

During security training, OpenAI warns employees that rival AI companies or spies working for hostile countries may try to steal secrets. According to The Wall Street Journal, the methods can range from listening to conversations in cafes to offering bribes or using romantic relationships to gain information.

In one case, a stranger made small talk with an OpenAI employee at a playground in San Francisco, then began asking about the employee's work. According to The Wall Street Journal, the stranger was a spy.

Employees are also reminded to use privacy screens on public transport and erase meeting-room whiteboards before leaving.

A case involving Abdulrahman Alfozan, 35, a Saudi citizen who worked as an engineer at OpenAI, shows the kind of risks companies worry about. He was arrested on Oct. 9 and charged with trying to secretly record private conversations.

According to the federal complaint against him, he hid a recording device wrapped in toilet paper behind a television in an executive meeting room. OpenAI fired him. He remains in jail while awaiting his case because officials consider him a risk to flee. He has not yet entered a plea.

JPT Security, a security company based in San Jose, says spying on company leaders often starts with social tricks. It says people with bad intentions “manufacture reasons to get close to a senior leader, their staff, or their family members.”

Because AI is sometimes a controversial industry, workers can also face angry or hostile reactions in public.

People stop outside the 24-hour San Francisco cafe run by Corgi, an AI insurance startup, every day to shout and swear, CEO Nico Laqua told The Wall Street Journal in July. He said some people blame AI for rising rents and increased water use in the area.

In March, activists wrote messages in chalk on the sidewalk outside OpenAI's San Francisco offices, urging employees to quit after the company made a defense deal with the Pentagon. Their messages included “Is it time to quit?” and “Will you spy on your neighbors?”

In April 2026, CEO Sam Altman's home in San Francisco was targeted in two separate incidents. In the first, a suspect threw a Molotov cocktail at his home and then threatened to burn down OpenAI's headquarters. Two days later, two other suspects fired a shot outside his house. All three were arrested and charged, and they are awaiting trial. All three have pleaded not guilty.

Meanwhile, the father of the Anthropic employee said his son finds it hard to know whom he can trust because of where he works.

“Whether you're going to a party, looking for a partner or making friends, people focus on your company and your wealth,” he said.

“They overlook your character and your values.”