A Saudi artificial intelligence engineer has been charged federally after he allegedly placed a bug inside a leading tech lab in the U.S.
The FBI arrested Abdulrahman Alfozan, a 35-year-old OpenAI engineer from Saudi Arabia, on Friday for reportedly hiding an audio recording device in the executive conference room of the company’s location in San Francisco. This was confirmed by the Department of Justice on Tuesday, which noted that this incident is part of a series of security breaches at OpenAI, which had faced other issues in the past, including an intrusion at the AI startup Hugging Face.
According to FBI Director Kash Patel, “Alfozan allegedly concealed a covert recording device to secretly capture sensitive communications regarding the company’s super intelligence (SI) technology.” This term for AI has been pushed by the Trump administration. Patel emphasized that protecting American SI innovation is crucial for the nation’s economic stability and security.
Reports indicate that Alfozan wrapped the recording device in toilet paper before plugging it into a USB port behind a television in the conference room around September 28. Security footage showed him near the room multiple times prior to the discovery of the device, even though he did not have permission to be there.
A photo shared on X shows Alfozan looking behind the television where the recording device was located.
Interestingly, Alfozan’s spouse was connected to a chatbot account that had inquired about how to create and install a “continuous audio recorder” between September 24 and September 30, according to the press release.
“The intelligence community is dedicated to protecting America’s cutting-edge intellectual property from foreign threats,” noted Jay Clayton, Director of National Intelligence, in the press release.
The National Security Division of the DOJ’s counterintelligence unit is assisting in the prosecution of the case.
An OpenAI spokesperson stated, “We discovered a sophisticated recording device hidden in one of our offices. We used our models to understand the device and trace its origin, identifying that a specific employee had planted it just days earlier.”
They added that there was no indication that Alfozan accessed or took sensitive materials like model weights, source code, or customer data. Subsequently, he was terminated.
The spokesperson also communicated that OpenAI referred the matter to the FBI and will continue to assist in the ongoing investigation.
On September 30, the company’s security team discovered the encrypted device during a routine sweep. Evidence suggested that Alfozan planned to plant additional devices in sensitive areas, so OpenAI gradually restricted his access while coordinating with the FBI, ultimately leading to his termination on Friday.
If convicted, Alfozan could face a prison sentence of up to five years along with a potential fine of $250,000, as stated by the DOJ.
