Prosecutors say an OpenAI engineer used ChatGPT to plan a hidden recorder, then planted it behind the TV in an executive meeting room.
The questions came from an account tied to his wife. They asked how to build a recorder that runs nonstop and lets you listen in live.
His name is Abdulrahman Alfozan, a 35-year-old Saudi national who joined OpenAI in July 2025. A Middle East business outlet profiled him in September as the company’s only Saudi employee.
- Around Sept 28, a thumb-sized recorder wrapped in toilet paper went into a USB port on the back of the TV.
- OpenAI’s security team found it two days later, then put its own camera in the room.
- On Oct 5, that camera caught him checking behind the TV. The same day, he left a bag in another room with his ID and a second recorder.
- OpenAI says its AI models helped trace the device to him. He was fired and arrested on Oct 9, and his detention hearing is Oct 19.
- Prosecutors say he’d booked one-way tickets to Saudi Arabia for himself and his family, leaving Oct 12.
He’s also a partner at a Saudi venture firm, Fortune found. Prosecutors haven’t said who, if anyone, he was working for, and OpenAI says it’s seen no sign he took its models, code or customer data.
OpenAI’s head of security operations spent more than 20 years at the FBI, which might explain how they caught him so fast.
The same week, OpenAI told a court that a different former employee sent more than 100 files about its unreleased device to a personal account, then presented it to Apple’s leadership. Apple says it found no evidence.
