OpenAI engineer charged after listening device found in meeting room

US authorities says Saudi national was arrested and charged for allegedly planting a concealed surveillance device.

A Saudi national who worked as an engineer at the artificial intelligence firm OpenAI has been arrested after a listening device was found in the company’s conference room, according to United States authorities.

In a statement on Tuesday, the Department of Justice said that the employee, identified as a 35-year-old Saudi engineer named Abdulrahman Alfozan, had worked at the company since July 2025.

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Prosecutors accused Alfozan of using the listening device to illegally obtain sensitive information.

Alfozan made his first court appearance on Tuesday and faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

“Protecting American [super intelligence] innovation is essential to safeguarding our nation’s economic strength and national security, and the FBI views that mission as one of our highest counterintelligence priorities,” Kash Patel, the head of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), said in response to the arrest.

The incident raises concerns about surveillance and underhanded efforts to gain an edge in the AI sector, where companies and countries have angled for an advantage.

A Justice Department complaint said that the device, concealed in toilet paper, was installed around September 28 and discovered on September 30.

Prosecutors explained that video surveillance from OpenAI’s offices showed Alfozan appearing near the executive conference room on multiple dates before the device was discovered, despite having no authority to access the room or participate in its meetings. Such meetings, they added, were highly confidential.