FBI arrests OpenAI engineer over hidden recorder in meeting room
What's new: Prosecutors say the device was hidden behind a TV in a San Francisco conference room used for sensitive AI and business talks.
Federal agents arrested OpenAI engineer Abdulrahman Alfozan, 35, after prosecutors accused him of planting a covert audio recording device in an executive conference room at the company’s San Francisco office. The Justice Department said the device, discovered Sept. 30 behind a television and concealed in toilet paper, was set up to intercept confidential discussions about OpenAI’s technology, commercial relationships and government engagements. Investigators said Alfozan was not authorized to access the room and that security later found a similar device in his bag. OpenAI said it has found no sign that model weights, source code or customer data were accessed, and the employee was fired. Alfozan was arrested Oct. 9 and faces up to five years in prison if convicted.