OpenAI employee arrested for allegedly hiding a ‘sophisticated recording device’ in its office

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OpenAI discovered a “sophisticated recording device” in one of its offices planted by an employee who has been arrested, the company said Tuesday.

The employee, who has since been dismissed by the company, is a Saudi national and has been identified by the US Department of Justice as 35-year-old Abdulrahman Alfozan.

The device was discovered on September 30 during a regular sweep of a conference room where the device was found inserted into a USB port on the back of a television screen and “concealed in toilet paper,” according to the DOJ. OpenAI has determined the device was in the conference room for about two days before it was discovered. Alfozan, who had been an engineer on the product team since July 2025 the DOJ said, was arrested on October 9 and remains in federal custody.

CNN has reached out to Alfozan for comment.

OpenAI said the device was for monitoring audio, had advanced encryption, and a mechanism for transferring data designed to evade monitoring. Alfozan had been seen on security cameras accessing the meeting room, where “highly confidential” discussions took place. The DOJ said a backpack belonging to Alfozan was found to have other similar recording devices, and OpenAI said they have evidence he intended to deploy more recording devices throughout their offices.

“At this time, we have no indications of this individual inappropriately accessing or exfiltrating model weights, source code, or customer data,” OpenAI said in a statement. “We take protecting our technology, data, and people seriously, and as a matter of national importance.”

The DOJ alleged that Alfozan used a “productivity tool” to find information about OpenAI’s meeting rooms, calendars and the locations of its leadership. A chatbot associated with Alfozan’s wife was found to have submitted prompts about building an encrypted audio recording device.

A LinkedIn page listed under Alfozan’s name showed previous positions at Meta as a senior systems engineer for around five years, as well as a company called Nash. The profile says that Alfozan attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and University of California, Berkeley. He’s also a partner in Raed, a Saudi based venture capital firm. CNN has reached out to the firm for comment.

In a statement, U.S. Attorney Craig Missakian said the protection of US technology companies is “a matter of national security.”

This is a developing story and will be updated.

David Paul Morris/Bloomberg/Getty Images

OpenAI公司周二表示，该公司在其一处办公室发现了一个“精密的录音设备”，该设备是由一名已被逮捕的员工安放的。

该员工已被公司解雇，他是沙特阿拉伯公民，美国司法部确认其身份为 35 岁的 Abdulrahman Alfozan。

据美国司法部称，该设备于9月30日在一次例行会议室检查中被发现，当时它被插入电视屏幕背面的USB接口，并“藏在卫生纸里”。OpenAI公司已确定该设备在被发现前已在会议室内停留了约两天。司法部表示，自2025年7月以来一直是产品团队工程师的阿尔福赞于10月9日被捕，目前仍被联邦拘留。

CNN已联系阿尔福赞征求意见。

OpenAI表示，该设备用于监听音频，具备高级加密功能，并设计有数据传输机制以规避监听。监控录像显示，阿尔福赞曾进入会议室，会议室里曾进行过“高度机密”的讨论。美国司法部称，在阿尔福赞的一个背包里发现了其他类似的录音设备，OpenAI也表示有证据表明，他计划在公司各处部署更多录音设备。

OpenAI在一份声明中表示：“目前，我们没有迹象表明此人不当访问或窃取了模型权重、源代码或客户数据。我们非常重视保护我们的技术、数据和人员，并将其视为一项国家大事。”

美国司法部指控阿尔福赞使用一款“生产力工具”查找有关OpenAI会议室、日程安排及其领导层所在地的信息。此外，还发现与阿尔福赞妻子关联的聊天机器人曾提交过关于构建加密录音设备的提示信息。

阿尔福赞名下的领英页面显示，他曾在Meta公司担任高级系统工程师约五年，也曾在一家名为Nash的公司工作过。该个人资料显示，阿尔福赞毕业于麻省理工学院和加州大学伯克利分校。他还是沙特阿拉伯风险投资公司Raed的合伙人。CNN已联系该公司寻求置评。

美国检察官克雷格·米萨基安在一份声明中表示，保护美国科技公司是“国家安全问题”。

这是一则正在更新的新闻。