An OpenAI Employee Allegedly Used a Chatbot to Help Plant a Recording Device at the Office
wired ·
An OpenAI engineer, Abdulrahman Alfozan, is accused of using an AI chatbot to plan the installation of a covert recording device in an executive conference room at the company's San Francisco office. Federal prosecutors allege that Alfozan concealed a listening device inside a piece of toilet paper and attached it behind a monitor in a restricted meeting space used for high-level discussions. The investigation revealed that he queried internal tools and external AI assistants to schedule meetings and gather technical advice on setting up the surveillance equipment. OpenAI’s security team discovered the bug during a countersurveillance sweep and later found a second encrypted device in an unattended bag left by the employee. Although the FBI suspects the motive was to capture sensitive information regarding superintelligence technology, no evidence has been presented yet regarding the exfiltration of model weights or source code. Alfozan, who joined OpenAI in July 2025, was fired immediately following his arrest and faces up to five years in prison if convicted. The incident highlights growing concerns about insider threats and the potential misuse of AI tools for corporate espionage.
wired