Recording device hidden in toilet paper found in top-secret OpenAI meeting room
The FBI arrested an OpenAI engineer accused of planting a hidden recorder in a secure meeting room.
The FBI arrested OpenAI engineer Alfozan, hired in July 2025, over allegations he planted a covert audio recorder in a restricted conference room. An affidavit says the device was a customized Chinese-made Seeed XIAO ESP32-S3 Sense with an obfuscated microSD layout, and that Alfozan used an internal productivity agent in August to locate sensitive meetings. Investigators also cite chatbot logs tied to his spouse that referenced the device's MAC address and continuous, speech-triggered, encrypted recording. FBI Director Kash Patel called protecting frontier labs such as OpenAI a top counterintelligence priority.
- FBI arrested OpenAI engineer Alfozan over an alleged hidden recorder.
- Affidavit describes a customized Seeed XIAO ESP32-S3 Sense device.
- He allegedly queried an internal agent for sensitive meeting times and places.
- Director Kash Patel framed the case as frontier-lab counterintelligence.
- Vendors
- Seeed
- Products
- Seeed XIAO ESP32-S3 Sense
- Victims
- OpenAI
- Countries
- United States
From the original article
1 min read at arstechnica.com
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