Alfozan, who has worked at OpenAI since July 2025 and holds US permanent residency, was arrested on October 9 and made his initial federal court appearance on October 13. According to a criminal complaint unsealed this week, he installed the recording device via a USB port on a TV in the executive conference room on or around September 28, 2026. Company staff discovered the device two days later, concealed in toilet paper.
OpenAI said it used its own models to analyze the device. According to the complaint, the device may have been modified to prevent data transfer between the recorder and the TV. The contents of its microSD card may also have been encrypted; the company could not retrieve any data after making a forensic image of the card.
CCTV footage placed Alfozan near the room on several dates, though prosecutors say he had no authority to access or participate in meetings held there. The room is often reserved for high-level discussions, including non-public and secret technical meetings and meetings with government representatives. Officials did not state whether the device captured anything of importance.
Initially, OpenAI did not have CCTV covering the executive conference room, but it subsequently installed a camera. Court documents include an image taken on October 5 from a camera behind the TV allegedly showing Alfozan checking on the device.
Investigators examined Alfozan's devices and found that between around August 17 and September 16, 2026, he used a productivity agent to inquire about company building addresses, meeting rooms, room capacities, calendars, and external-partner meeting venues. The complaint also describes an AI chatbot account associated with his spouse that shared installation identifiers, IP usage, and user-path references with Alfozan's account. Between September 24 and 30, that account submitted prompts about building and modifying an audio-recording device, including questions about recording reliability, adding browser access and controls, and developing a second unit with speech-triggered recording.
On October 5, the same day Alfozan was allegedly recorded looking behind the executive conference room TV, company representatives say he left a bag unattended in the office's printer room. Security staff inspected the bag and found a wallet, an ID card, and a second Seeed-manufactured recording device. Alfozan then reported the bag missing, collected it the following day from Lost and Found, and later claimed in a written report that several items were missing, including a credit card, about $500 in cash, two AirPods, one set of headphones, sunglasses, and a power bank.
Alfozan is charged with attempt to intercept oral communications, which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. FBI Director Kash Patel said: "According to the complaint unsealed today, Abdulrahman Alfozan allegedly concealed a covert recording device inside his employer's executive conference room to secretly capture sensitive communications about the company's super intelligence technology. Protecting American SI innovation is essential to safeguarding our nation's economic strength and national security."