FBI arrests OpenAI employee accused of planting hidden recording device in conference room

OpenAI said it has alerted the FBI after discovering that an employee allegedly planted a hidden recording device in one of the AI maker’s office executive conference rooms. The employee, named by federal prosecutors as Saudi national Abdulrahman Alfozan, was fired and arrested on October 9, about a week after OpenAI discovered the surveillance device.

OpenAI 表示，在发现一名员工涉嫌在公司的一间高管会议室中安装了隐藏录音设备后，已向联邦调查局（FBI）报案。这名被联邦检察官确认为沙特籍的员工 Abdulrahman Alfozan 在 OpenAI 发现该监控设备约一周后，于 10 月 9 日被解雇并逮捕。

The company said in a post on X that it used its internal AI models to understand the “sophisticated” device. OpenAI told TechCrunch that the device contained “advanced encryption, audio monitoring capabilities, and a mechanism for transferring data designed to evade monitoring,” though it is unclear to what degree this device is technically distinct from other recording devices.

该公司在 X 上发文称，利用其内部 AI 模型分析了这一“精密”设备。OpenAI 向 TechCrunch 表示，该设备包含“高级加密、音频监控功能以及旨在规避监控的数据传输机制”，但目前尚不清楚该设备在技术上与其他录音设备有何本质区别。

“At this time, we have no indications of this individual inappropriately accessing or exfiltrating model weights, source code, or customer data,” said OpenAI in its post on X. OpenAI’s spokesperson, Nate Evans, confirmed that the employee started with the AI model maker in July 2025 and worked on the product team.

OpenAI 在 X 的帖文中表示：“目前，我们没有迹象表明此人曾不当访问或窃取模型权重、源代码或客户数据。”OpenAI 发言人 Nate Evans 证实，该员工于 2025 年 7 月加入这家 AI 模型开发公司，并在产品团队工作。

Prosecutors with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of California said Alfozan was charged with using an electronic device to intercept oral communications — effectively accusing him of covertly recording people’s voice audio without their permission. Prosecutors said OpenAI caught the device after it was inserted into a USB port on the back of a television in OpenAI’s San Francisco office.

美国加州北区联邦检察官办公室的检察官表示，Alfozan 被控使用电子设备拦截口头通讯，实际上是指控他在未经许可的情况下秘密录制他人的语音。检察官称，OpenAI 是在发现该设备被插入旧金山办公室一台电视机背后的 USB 接口后将其查获的。

Per the prosecutors, Alfozan was caught looking behind the television where the recording device was placed, and where OpenAI had placed a camera that allegedly caught the employee. It’s not clear exactly for what purpose the recording device was used, but FBI director Kash Patel said the scheme was to “capture sensitive communications about the company’s super intelligence technology.”

据检察官称，Alfozan 被发现查看放置录音设备的电视机后方，而 OpenAI 在该处安装的摄像头据称拍下了这名员工。目前尚不清楚该录音设备的具体用途，但 FBI 局长 Kash Patel 表示，该计划旨在“获取有关该公司超级智能技术的敏感通讯内容”。

Neither Alfozan nor his attorney could be immediately reached for comment. He faces five years in prison if convicted. When reached, a spokesperson for the FBI reiterated a statement made by Patel. “Protecting American SI innovation is essential to safeguarding our nation’s economic strength and national security, and the FBI views that mission as one of our highest counterintelligence priorities,” Patel said.

记者未能立即联系到 Alfozan 或其律师置评。如果罪名成立，他将面临五年监禁。FBI 发言人在受访时重申了 Patel 的声明。Patel 表示：“保护美国的超级智能（SI）创新对于维护我国的经济实力和国家安全至关重要，FBI 将此使命视为我们最重要的反间谍优先事项之一。”