Toilet paper and secret recorders: What we know about the arrest of the Saudi OpenAI engineer

Key points

• Abdulrahman Alfozan, a Saudi engineer who worked at OpenAI, was arrested by the FBI on 9 October.
• He is accused of planting a secret recording device behind a TV in a confidential meeting room.
• He appeared in a California federal court on Tuesday; a detention hearing is set for 19 October.

Abdulrahman Alfozan, a 35-year-old Saudi national employed as an engineer at OpenAI, appeared in a federal court in California on Tuesday after the FBI arrested him on 9 October. He faces a charge of using or attempting to use a device to intercept oral communications.

According to an official complaint filed in court, Alfozan allegedly planted a secret recording device behind a television in a meeting room at OpenAI. The room was regularly used for discussions of highly confidential technical, commercial and strategic information, as well as government engagements and commercial relationships.

What the complaint alleges

The complaint states that between 17 August and 16 September, Alfozan asked a productivity AI assistant several questions about meeting rooms and their availability. Examples included how external partners would meet with OpenAI and requests to list a day's meetings in a specific room.

In September, he also allegedly used a chatbot associated with his spouse to ask how to build and install a recording device and how to access it remotely. The complaint says he had no authority to access or be involved with meetings in the room, but CCTV footage recorded him near the conference room on eight separate occasions in September.

On 30 September, OpenAI staff found a surreptitious audio recording device behind a television, wrapped in toilet paper. A camera was then placed in the conference room, and on 5 October Alfozan was filmed entering the room and appearing to look behind the television where the device had been inserted. That same day, he allegedly left an unattended bag in a different room; when security personnel opened it, they found another similar recording device, along with his wallet and ID.

Like countless Americans, Mr Alfozan came to this country years ago as a young person with a dream.

— William Pernik

OpenAI response and next steps

OpenAI said in a post on X that it had used its own AI models to understand the device and where it had come from. The company added that at that time it had no indications of the individual inappropriately accessing or exfiltrating model weights, source code, or customer data.

Alfozan had been employed by OpenAI since July 2025 and his contract has been terminated. His lawyer, William Pernik, told the BBC that the allegations appear wholly out of character and that the defense will investigate all evidence. Pernik also asked everyone to withhold judgment until full facts become known, noting that Alfozan is presumed innocent.

A detention hearing is scheduled on 19 October to determine whether Alfozan should remain in custody. If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.