Forget the AI arms race happening in the cloud. According to federal prosecutors, one front of it was allegedly fought with a USB recording device, a TV, and a wad of toilet paper inside OpenAI's own building.
Abdulrahman Alfozan, a 35-year-old Saudi national who has worked as an engineer at OpenAI since July 2025, was arrested on Friday, Oct. 9, and charged with using a device to intercept oral communications, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of California. He has not entered a plea, and his lawyer says he is presumed innocent.
The Alleged Bug Behind the TV
According to the Justice Department, OpenAI staff discovered a hidden audio recording device on Sept. 30 plugged into a USB port on the back of a television in an executive conference room at one of the company's San Francisco buildings. Prosecutors say the device was concealed in toilet paper, had allegedly been installed around Sept. 28, and its contents were encrypted.
The Wall Street Journal reported that, per prosecutors, the room could only be booked by executives and their assistants and was used for leadership meetings and briefings with government officials and partners. The Telegraph reported that court filings say surveillance cameras allegedly captured Alfozan near the room multiple times even though he wasn't cleared to be there, and that OpenAI found a similar device on Oct. 5 in a bag that allegedly contained his ID and wallet.
As for what was taken: OpenAI said there was "no indication" that sensitive code or customer data had been stolen, according to The Telegraph. Because the recordings were encrypted, it has not been publicly confirmed what, if anything, the device captured.
The One-Way Ticket
The newest twist comes from a newly unsealed Oct. 8 filing. According to The Telegraph, prosecutors claim Alfozan had booked a one-way ticket from San Francisco to Saudi Arabia via Istanbul for Oct. 12, along with tickets for his wife and another family member. Government lawyers argued he had the means to "flee" if he learned the FBI was investigating him.
Alfozan faces a maximum of five years in prison, a $250,000 fine and three years of supervised release if convicted, according to the DOJ. He remains in federal custody, with a detention hearing set for Oct. 19 before U.S. Magistrate Judge Alex G. Tse.
His lawyer told CBS News that his client is presumed innocent and warned against "jumping to conclusions" or trying to "politicise" the case, according to The Telegraph.
Who Was He Allegedly Working For?
That's the big unanswered question. The charging documents do not publicly accuse Alfozan of spying on behalf of any government or company. The Telegraph reported that U.S. officials have called the incident a "matter of national security."
The Telegraph also reported that before OpenAI, Alfozan spent five years at Meta, then launched his own startup, and in 2025 was named a venture partner at Raed Ventures, a Saudi investment firm with ties to the royal family. The outlet noted that Raed Ventures is not cited in the court filings.
OpenAI said it called in the FBI after finding the devices, according to The Telegraph. In Silicon Valley's AI gold rush, where model secrets are worth billions, the case is a reminder that the biggest security threat isn't always a hacker. Sometimes, prosecutors say, it's allegedly in the conference room.
Photo: HaeB / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
