OpenAI engineer charged after bugging device discovered in executive meeting room

U.S. authorities charged a Saudi national employed as an engineer at OpenAI with illegally installing a concealed listening device in the company’s executive conference room. Prosecutors say video footage showed the employee, identified as 35-year-old Abdulrahman Alfozan, near the restricted room before the device—hidden in toilet paper—was found; a second device was allegedly located in his bag. The Justice Department said Alfozan faces up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine on wiretapping-related charges. OpenAI said it has no evidence of access to model weights, source code, or customer data, and that it used its own AI tools to help identify the suspect, whom it has since terminated. The case underscores escalating security and counterintelligence concerns as competition intensifies in advanced AI.

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