A spying attempt has been reported at the San Francisco office of US AI company OpenAI. A company employee has been accused of hiding a recording device behind a television in a conference room to record confidential conversations involving officials.

The company identified the suspect with the help of its AI model, after which the FBI arrested Saudi national Abdulrahman Alfozan.

Recorder hidden in toilet paper

According to OpenAI, company employees found the device during a security check on 30 September. It was the size of a thumb.

It was plugged into a USB port behind the television in a conference room at the San Francisco-based company's office. The device had been hidden in toilet paper.

It contained a microphone, a detachable camera sensor and a microSD card for storing data.

According to the company, it was installed around 28 September. The data on the device was encrypted, so the recordings could not be listened to.

He also sought help from an AI chatbot

US investigators allege that Alfozan had prepared in advance to install the device. He used a productivity tool to obtain information about the company's buildings, meeting rooms, the timings of officials' movements and meetings with external partners.

According to investigators, between 24 and 30 September, he used an AI chatbot account linked to his wife to ask questions about making the device, installing it, examining audio recordings, hiding it and accessing it remotely.

OpenAI officials held discussions on confidential matters in the conference room where the device had been installed.

According to the complaint, CCTV footage showed Alfozan near the room on several dates, even though he was not authorised to enter it or attend those meetings.

Recording device found in another room as well

According to investigators, CCTV footage from 5 October showed Alfozan entering the conference room and looking behind the television. The same day, he left his bag in another room.

When OpenAI security staff searched the bag, they found Alfozan's wallet, identity card and a second encrypted recording device similar to the first one.

Alfozan is accused of later collecting his bag and complaining that some of his belongings were missing. However, he did not mention the second recording device.

Up to 5 years in prison if convicted

Thirty-five-year-old Alfozan is a Saudi national and has permanent residency in the United States. He joined OpenAI in July 2025.

He was arrested on 9 October and appeared in federal court for the first time on Tuesday.

According to the US Department of Justice, if convicted, he could face up to 5 years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000 (around ₹2.3 crore) and up to three years of supervised release.

OpenAI fired him; no evidence of data theft

OpenAI said it had so far found no evidence that Alfozan had improperly accessed or exfiltrated the company's underlying AI model data, source code or customer information. The company dismissed him after the incident.

Alfozan is also a venture partner at venture capital firm Raed Ventures. According to the company's website, he was an engineering lead at OpenAI and worked on AI agents and the data platform.

He had previously worked at Meta, Microsoft and SAP. He studied computer science and engineering at MIT.