OpenAI uncovers internal mole; spy engineer arrested in San Francisco
Recording device concealed in a meeting room: ‘highly confidential technical, commercial and strategic information’ was recorded. Investigation by the US Department of Justice
Yet another case of espionage on the frontier of artificial intelligence. An OpenAI employee has been arrested and charged with using a hidden recording device in one of the company’s offices in San Francisco, according to the US Department of Justice.
Abdulrahman Alfozan, a Saudi national, was arrested on 9 October, more than a week after OpenAI staff discovered an audio recording device at the back of a television set in a meeting room reserved for senior management. Alfozan, who is accused of planting the device, is currently in federal custody and has appeared in court in San Francisco.
Internal controls
Alfozan had started working for OpenAI in July 2025 and was part of the product development team; he was sacked on the very day of his arrest, according to the company. The incident is set to heighten concerns about security at major tech companies at a time when nations are engaged in fierce competition to develop increasingly powerful artificial intelligence systems. “At present, we have no indication that this individual accessed or improperly obtained model weights, source code or customer data,” the company wrote on the social media platform X on Tuesday.
The hidden device
OpenAI stated that one of its security teams discovered the device on 30 September during an inspection of a company meeting room. According to details and images released by the Department of Justice, the device was connected to a USB port on the back of a television in the room and covered with toilet paper to disguise it. An image released by the Department of Justice showed a small black device bearing the words ‘Seeed Studio’; the agency stated that OpenAI had determined it had been placed there around 28 September.
The evidence gathered by OpenAI
The company stated that it had used its artificial intelligence models to analyse the device and identify who had placed it in its offices. According to the FBI’s criminal complaint, Alfozan did not have OpenAI’s authorisation to access the conference room, which usually hosted meetings concerning ‘highly confidential technical, commercial and strategic information’.
