An Alleged Spy Device Was Hidden at OpenAI. Check This Overlooked Spot in Your Office Today

BY KIT EATON, FREELANCE WRITER @KITEATON

Illustration: Inc.; Photos: Adobe Stock

In today’s AI era, much of the conversation on cybersecurity is rightly focused on the digital security and privacy risks posed by hackers maliciously misusing AI code (or AI models going rogue). But an alleged spying incident at OpenAI is a startling reminder that old-school surveillance tech can still be a serious threat. 

According to a post from the Department of Justice, the incident couldn’t really be simpler. The suspect is an OpenAI engineer—Abdulrahman Alfozan—who allegedly planted an audio recording bug in his employer’s executive conference room, the DOJ said. Alfozan is a Saudi Arabian national in his 30s who also advised government agencies back home, according to The New York Times. The DOJ said he was charged with “using or endeavoring to use an electronic, mechanical, or other device to intercept oral communications.” 

OpenAI explained a little more in a post on X. The company says it “discovered a sophisticated recording device that was hidden inside one of our offices” and that it then 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.” They referred the matter to the FBI, and noted in the X post that the investigation is ongoing.

So far, so typical for high-stakes international corporate espionage, you may think, even if it involves one of the world’s leading AI firms.

But the gadget in question is actually the eye-opener here. He allegedly inserted a thumbdrive-sized audio recording device into the USB socket on the back of a TV used for presentations in OpenAI’s conference room. In other words, this wasn’t a James Bond-style remote laser mic reflecting off the conference room window. 

Nope, it looks like it was just a tiny plastic slab with a USB plug, something a bit like any of the several you probably have near your workstation. We know this because there’s image-based evidence that appears to link Alfozan to the device, which you can see on news sites like NBC. According to the DOJ, the gizmo was designed to snoop on the sensitive discussions in between OpenAI’s executives in their conference room.

If you think about it, the plan was quite brilliant.