A complaint in the case against former OpenAI engineering team lead Abdulrahman Alfozan describes a recording device found in a room used for confidential discussions, concealed in toilet paper and connected behind a television.
Alfozan was arrested and accused of using or trying to use a device to intercept spoken conversations; the allegations do not establish that any meeting was recorded.
Company employees discovered the device around Sept. 30 in an executive meeting room at OpenAI's San Francisco offices. According to the complaint, it had been placed there around Sept. 28. It was plugged into a USB port on the back of the television and hidden inside toilet paper.
The room was used for confidential discussions about the company's technology, business and strategy, such as research, product plans and business opportunities. Video from the offices reportedly shows Alfozan near the room on several dates before the device was discovered, even though he had no access or participation in the meetings.
According to the complaint, before the device was installed, Alfozan used a tool from his job to gather information about OpenAI's buildings and rooms, their capacity and usage schedules. He also collected data on executives' locations and their meetings with external partners.
From September 24 to 30, according to the complaint, questions were asked through a chatbot account associated with his wife about how a recording device could be built, customized, installed and tested. The questions also concerned its remote operation. Some related to continuous recording, wireless connection, live listening and SD card encryption. On September 27 and 28, questions were also asked about specific features of the device.
On October 5, Alfozan allegedly entered the room and looked behind the television. On the same day, he allegedly left a bag unattended in another room at OpenAI. According to the complaint, a second recording device, his wallet and his ID were found in the bag.
OpenAI said it used its own artificial intelligence systems to figure out what the device was and where it came from. It also said it has no evidence that Alfozan obtained or copied any of its model data, source code or customer information without permission.
The company told TechCrunch that the device used advanced encryption, could monitor audio, and transferred data in a way designed to evade detection.
If convicted, Alfozan faces up to five years in prison, a $250.000 fine and three years of post-release supervision.
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