OpenAI Employee Allegedly Tried to Steal the Company’s Intellectual Property

OpenAI has referred a security incident to the FBI after discovering a concealed audio recording device in an executive conference room at its San Francisco headquarters.

A company employee and Saudi national, 35-year-old Abdulrahman Alfozan, was arrested on October 9 and charged with using an electronic device to intercept oral communications, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

In a statement on X, OpenAI says that it identified a “sophisticated recording device” and used its internal AI models to investigate the equipment and determine its origins. The company says it identified an employee who had allegedly planted the device several days before its discovery and subsequently terminated him.

“At this time, we have no indications of this individual inappropriately accessing or exfiltrating model weights, source code, or customer data,” the company says.

According to the Justice Department, the device was installed around September 28 and discovered during a security sweep on September 30. It was concealed in toilet paper and connected to a USB port on the back of a television in an executive conference room. The room was regularly used for meetings involving confidential information, according to the FBI.

The device was approximately the size of a thumb, contained a microphone, and could connect to a camera, according to an FBI complaint. Its stored data was encrypted.

OpenAI tells TechCrunch that the equipment had “advanced encryption, audio monitoring capabilities, and a mechanism for transferring data designed to evade monitoring.”

Investigators also found a second, similar customized recording device in a bag that Alfozan had left unattended at the company’s headquarters, according to the indictment. Surveillance footage allegedly shows him looking behind the television where the first device had been installed. The company also says it had evidence suggesting that he intended to place additional recording devices in sensitive areas of its offices.

FBI Director Kash Patel says Alfozan allegedly concealed the equipment to “capture sensitive communications about the company’s super intelligence technology.”

The FBI complaint also alleges that Alfozan used an AI productivity agent to seek information about OpenAI’s internal operations, including building addresses, meeting rooms, room capacities, calendars, and the locations of company leaders. The inquiries reportedly continued for approximately a month, through September 16.

According to the indictment, Alfozan’s spouse also submitted prompts to chatbots concerning the construction, customization, installation, testing, and remote access of an audio recording device.

According to OpenAI, Alfozan joined the company in July 2025 and worked on its product team. The Justice Department says he worked as an engineer. He has been a legal permanent resident of the United States since September 2020, according to the FBI complaint.

If convicted, Alfozan faces up to five years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000 and three years of supervised release. The investigation remains ongoing.

That OpenAI has reacted strongly to an employee allegedly trying to steal its intellectual property prompted accusations of hypocrisy since the company never gained permission for all of the copyrighted data it used to build its chatbots and image generators.

“Damn. That really sucks that someone would attempt to steal your intellectual property,” Plebeian Capital Group says ironically on X.

“’We take protecting our technology, data, and people seriously’” says the company stealing and profiting off of everyone’s life’s work,” adds Rami Elghandour.

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Image creditsU.S. Justice Department