OpenAI employee arrested after allegedly sneaking recording device into offices

OpenAI, the company behind popular AI chatbot ChatGPT, has revealed that one of its employees was arrested after allegedly planting a recording device in its offices. 

The AI firm and federal prosecutors confirmed that the FBI has arrested a Saudi employee after discovering a ‘sophisticated recording device’ hidden in the company’s San Francisco offices. 

It is currently unclear what, if any, information regarding the tech firm the device was able to collect. 

In a statement to AFP, OpenAI said: ‘We discovered a sophisticated recording device that was hidden inside one of our offices’. They later confirmed to have ‘referred the matter to the FBI’. 

It is understood that after finding the device, Saudi national and OpenAI employee Abdulrahman Alfozan was arrested on October 9. 

The 35-year-old engineer is accused of wrapping a USB device in toilet paper and plugging it into a television located in an ‘executive conference room’. 

He was allegedly caught on camera ‘near’ the conference room multiple times despite not being authorised to be in meetings there, according to the US Justice Department. 

It is also alleged that a second device was found by OpenAI’s security team upon searching an unattended bag belonging to the man.

Alfozan, who had worked for the company since July 2025, is further accused of using a ‘productivity tool’ to seek out more information regarding OpenAI’s office buildings, meeting rooms, calendars and schedules. 

The Justice Department has since said the man was charged with ‘using or endeavouring to use an electronic, mechanical, or other device to intercept oral communications’. This could see him hit with up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. 

While the Justice Department has yet to officially accuse Alfozan or Saudi Arabia of spying, the incident has reignited conversations around the ongoing international race to be the leading developer of AI. 

US President Donald Trump has pushed in recent weeks for America to be reach the breaking edge of AI development.

He recently hit out against criticisms of data centres, describing them as a ‘sick conspiracy’. ‘WHOEVER WINS AI, WINS!’ he recently declared. 

In a statement regarding the recent arrest of Alfozan, Director of National Intelligence Jay Clayton said: ‘This serious situation underscores why winning the global super intelligence race is a national security prerogative. 

‘The intelligence community remains committed to safeguarding America’s cutting-edge intellectual property from foreign threats.’