A federal complaint alleges that former OpenAI engineer Abdulrahman Alfozan hid a recorder in a meeting room used for sensitive discussions.
Prosecutors say he queried AI and productivity tools about planning the alleged surveillance and used an internal OpenAI tool to ask about scheduled meetings.
The case is before a federal court; the allegations are not findings of guilt.
Abdulrahman Alfozan appeared in federal court in San Francisco on Tuesday. Prosecutors describe him as a 35-year-old Saudi national and permanent U.S. resident. He faces one count of using a device to eavesdrop on spoken conversations. If convicted, he could be sentenced to up to five years in prison.
OpenAI had hired him in July 2025 and fired him last Friday, the day he was arrested.
The device in the meeting room
According to the criminal complaint, Alfozan hid a recording device inside toilet paper and placed it behind a monitor. The device was plugged into a USB port on the back of a television.
The room was reserved only for executives and their assistants. It was used for internal meetings on leadership, research and product matters, as well as briefings with partners and government officials. According to the complaint, highly confidential information about research, products, business strategy and the company's relations with the government was often discussed.
The complaint states that the device was installed no later than September 28, 2026. OpenAI detected it on September 30, during a scan for hidden devices. The company said it was unable to read the data on the memory card because it was encrypted.
Prosecutors say that over several weeks, Alfozan asked an unnamed productivity tool and an artificial intelligence tool how to set up the monitoring. He also used an internal OpenAI tool to ask what meetings were scheduled in the room. According to prosecutors and court documents, he appears to have asked technical questions about covert recording through an AI tool account associated with his wife.
The second device in the bag
On October 5, OpenAI’s security team found a bag that Alfozan had left unattended in a printer area. Inside were personal items, including his wallet, and a second recording device. This one also had encrypted data.
Alfozan later told the company he had lost the bag and retrieved it from lost and found. He said a credit card, about $500 in cash, and two AirPods were missing, but he didn't mention the second device, which OpenAI security had removed.
FBI Director Kash Patel said Alfozan wanted to secretly record sensitive conversations about OpenAI's superintelligence technology. However, neither prosecutors nor the company have said what the motive might be.
OpenAI said it notified the FBI and linked the devices to Alfozan by examining conversations, security camera footage and his bag. As the investigation continued, it gradually restricted his access to company systems. The company also said it has no evidence that he improperly obtained or copied AI models, source code or customer data.
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