OpenAI engineer fired for allegedly planting listening device inside company’s conference room
OpenAI engineer fired for allegedly planting listening device inside company’s conference room

LOS ANGELES (CBS, KYMA) - There are new concerns about AI security following the arrest of an OpenAI engineer for allegedly planting a listening device inside an executive conference room at the company's San Francisco headquarters.
It's being called a matter of national securityas the Justice Department announced that 35-year-old OpenAI engineer Abdulrahman Alfozan, a citizen of Saudi Arabia, was arrested and fired for allegedly planting a sophisticated recording device in the San Francisco headquarters of OpenAI at the end of last month.
According to the complaint unsealed Tuesday, OpenAI staff found a recording device, wrapped in toilet paper, inserted into a USB port on the back of this TV for about two days in the executive conference room of an open AI building.
Alfozan was also allegedly spotted in the conference room where highly confidential technical, commercial, and strategic information is frequently discussed.
In a statement, OpenAI said it used AI to figure out where the device came from and that it has no Indications of this individual inappropriately accessing or exfiltrating model weights, source code, or customer data.
The FBI is now investigating, and Alfozan remains in federal custody, charged with trying to use a device to intercept oral communications.
His lawyer has not yet responded to CBS News' request for comment, and if convicted, he would face up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
