OpenAI engineer charged in US with illegal interception of conversations — Al Jazeera

In the United States, 35-year-old OpenAI engineer and Saudi Arabian citizen Abdulrahman Alfozan has been charged with the illegal interception of oral communications. According to Al Jazeera, he was arrested after a concealed listening device was found in a company meeting room.

Device found in meeting room

According to the US Department of Justice, Alfozan had worked at OpenAI since July 2025. Prosecutors allege that he sought to unlawfully obtain confidential information using a listening device.

The US Justice Department's complaint states that the device, hidden in toilet paper, was installed around September 28 and discovered on September 30. Prosecutors claim that surveillance footage from the OpenAI office shows Alfozan was near the executive meeting room several times before the device was discovered. He allegedly did not have authorization to access the room or attend the meetings held there.

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OpenAI statement and court proceedings

As Al Jazeera reports, OpenAI security also found a second listening device in Alfozan's bag. The company said it used its own artificial intelligence models to investigate the device and its origin, after which it identified a specific employee who, it alleges, had installed it several days earlier.

OpenAI said it has no indication that the person improperly accessed or exfiltrated model weights, source code, or customer data. The company fired the employee and reported the case to the FBI. Alfozan first appeared in court on Tuesday; if convicted, he faces up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.