OpenAI engineer charged after boardroom bug found wrapped in toilet paper
DOJ charged an OpenAI engineer with planting a covert recorder in an executive conference room.
The US Department of Justice charged OpenAI engineer Abdulrahman Alfozan, a 35-year-old Saudi national, with attempting to intercept oral communications after a covert Seeed XIAO ESP32-S3 Sense recorder was found in an executive conference-room TV around September 30, 2026. Prosecutors say CCTV later showed him checking the device and that a second recorder was found in a bag he left in a printer room. OpenAI said he was terminated and that there is no indication he accessed or exfiltrated model weights, source code, or customer data. The offense carries a maximum of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
- Abdulrahman Alfozan was arrested October 9 and appeared in court October 13.
- A Seeed recorder was found wrapped in toilet paper in a conference-room TV.
- Security later found a second Seeed recorder in a bag he left behind.
- OpenAI reports no theft of model weights, source code, or customer data.
- The attempted interception charge carries up to five years and a $250,000 fine.
- Vendors
- Seeed
- Products
- Seeed XIAO ESP32-S3 Sense
- Victims
- OpenAI
- Organizations
- OpenAIDepartment of JusticeFBI
- Countries
- United StatesSaudi Arabia
From the original article
3 min read at theregister.comFBI alleges covert recorder was plugged into a TV, with a second device later discovered in the employee's bag
By Connor Jones · theregister.com
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