The OpenAI Bug Case Has Two Devices, Not One

The Justice Department says Abdulrahman Alfozan, 35, a Saudi national employed as an engineer at OpenAI since July 2025, was arrested October 9 and made his initial appearance in federal court October 13, the day the complaint was unsealed. He is charged with using or trying to use a device to intercept oral communications. The Washington Post's headline reports the FBI arrested him after a listening device was found at the company's office. The complaint describes two.

According to the complaint, OpenAI personnel found the first device, labeled Recording Device 1, inserted into a USB port on the back of a television in an executive conference room in one of the company's San Francisco buildings. It had been hidden in toilet paper. Seattle Metro Magazine, citing the complaint, reports it was planted no later than on or about September 28, 2026. The room can be reserved only by executives and executive assistants and hosts leadership meetings, technical sessions and briefings with business partners and government officials, the magazine reports. Prosecutors say meetings there often cover proprietary research, product plans, government engagements and commercial relationships.

The complaint says office camera footage showed Alfozan near the executive conference room on multiple dates before the discovery, though he had no authority to join its meetings. It alleges he used a productivity tool to ask about building addresses, meeting rooms and calendars, the locations of leadership and executives, and external partner meetings. A chatbot account, prosecutors say, submitted prompts about building a continuous audio recorder, customizing Wi-Fi, hiding and remotely accessing a device, and questions tied to Recording Device 1's custom header and MAC address. On October 5, the complaint alleges, Alfozan entered the conference room and appeared to look behind the television.

That same day, prosecutors say, he left a bag unattended in a different room. Security staff opened it and found his wallet, his ID and Recording Device 2, similar to the first. Seattle Metro Magazine reports the bag sat in a printer room and held an encrypted Seeed listening device. The magazine, citing prosecutors, says Alfozan later reported the bag missing, retrieved it from lost and found, and told OpenAI staff that a credit card, about $500 in cash and two AirPods were still missing. He did not mention the second device, which security had removed.

OpenAI says it notified the FBI after finding the first device and tied it to Alfozan through chat logs, surveillance footage and the bag search, then gradually cut off his access to company systems, according to Seattle Metro Magazine. FBI Director Kash Patel said the complaint alleges Alfozan hid the device to capture communications about the company's superintelligence technology, and called protecting American innovation one of the bureau's highest counterintelligence priorities. Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicolas Parker of the Northern District of California is prosecuting, with Trial Attorney Kate Tagert of the National Security Division's Counterintelligence and Export Control Section.