US charges Saudi OpenAI engineer over alleged office bugging

Federal prosecutors have charged an OpenAI engineer with secretly recording conversations inside the company’s San Francisco headquarters. The alleged method was a covert audio device hidden behind a television in an executive conference room. The engineer is Abdulrahman Alfozan, a 35-year-old from Saudi Arabia. The case lands at a moment when Washington openly treats advanced AI as a national security asset, and the people building it as potential targets. A recorder, a TV, and some toilet paper Prosecutors in the Northern District of California brought the case on October 9, 2026. Alfozan faces one count of intercepting oral communications. The device at the center of the case was found on September 30, 2026. It was plugged into a USB port behind a TV and wrapped in toilet paper. The location was anything but casual. The room was used for sensitive discussions, including proprietary research and strategic business plans, and the hidden device was a clear breach of the firm’s security protocols. OpenAI reportedly used its own AI models to help identify both the unauthorized device and the person responsible. On October 5, investigators found a second, similar audio recording devic...