San Francisco · OpenAI · FBI · Federal Reserve (FED) · Saudi Arabia · Fortune Technology
FBI arrests OpenAI employee accused of planting secret recording device in conference room
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◎ Multiple-sources
In a stunning disclosure, the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) announced Tuesday that it has arrested an OpenAI employee who is a Saudi citizen, charging him with secretly recording conversations in a conference room at the company’s San Francisco offices.
Key facts
- He formerly worked at Meta for five years, and is a graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (2016) and UC Berkeley (2025)
- The suspect is Abdurahman Alfozan, 35, a citizen of Saudi Arabia, the FBI said, without specifying the nature of his status as a U.S. resident
- Between Sept. 30 and Oct. 9, OpenAI worked with the FBI on the timing of Alfozan’s termination, so as to not disrupt their investigation, the company said
- A few days before implanting the device, from Sept. 24 to Sept
Summary
A specialized OpenAI security team—the technical surveillance countermeasures team—first found a recording device on Sept. 30 during a sweep of the conference room, OpenAI told Fortune. OpenAI contacted the FBI after discovering the listening device, which the company says was sophisticated and designed to evade detection. In that conference room, executives frequently held “discussions of highly confidential technical, commercial, and strategic information,” the FBI said. The suspect is Abdurahman Alfozan, 35, a citizen of Saudi Arabia, the FBI said, without specifying the nature of his status as a U.S. resident.