OpenAI engineer planted bugs in the company's office. He was detained by the FBI, but it's unclear who he worked for
A 35-year-old engineer from OpenAI, a leading company in the field of artificial intelligence, has been arrested in the US. The Wall Street Journal reports the details.
Saudi national Abdulrahman Alfazani has worked at OpenAI since July 2025. According to US prosecutors, he became interested in a conference room in the company's office in San Francisco, which could only be booked by executives and their assistants. Confidential meetings, discussions with government representatives and partners, and confidential research and future products were held there. Alfazani himself was not authorized to enter this room. However, surveillance cameras recorded him nearby at least ten times in September.
According to the investigation, before this, the engineer used an internal artificial intelligence tool to find out the location of offices, conference rooms, and the schedules of OpenAI management meetings.
In addition, investigators found that queries about creating devices for continuous audio recording, their encryption, and remote eavesdropping were made from a chatbot account linked to the suspect's wife.
Around September 28, the investigation suggests, Alfazani placed a small electronic device with a microphone in the conference room. He wrapped it in toilet paper and connected it to the USB port on the back of a wall-mounted TV.
However, already on September 30, OpenAI security personnel found the device. The company contacted the FBI, and a surveillance camera was installed in the room.
On October 5, it recorded Alfazani entering the room and looking behind the TV, where the microphone had previously been placed.
On the same day, in another office space, he left a bag unattended. Security personnel found another bug in it. According to the investigation, it was modified to complicate access to the stored information. The bag itself was handed over to the lost and found office.
The next day, the engineer came to retrieve the bag. He stated that a bank card, about $500, and sunglasses were missing from it. However, he did not inquire about the recording device.
On October 9, the engineer was arrested. He was charged with using or attempting to use a device for illegal interception of oral communications. If convicted, he faces up to five years in prison.
OpenAI fired the employee and stated that it has not yet found any signs of unauthorized access to source code, AI model parameters, or customer data.
It is currently unknown who the recordings were intended for, or whether Alfazani managed to obtain any confidential information.
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