Overview
- Abdulrahman Alfozan, a 35-year-old engineer who began working at OpenAI in July 2025, entered a not-guilty plea on Friday and remains jailed after a magistrate found him a flight risk.
- Prosecutors allege he hid a thumb-sized audio recorder wrapped in toilet paper behind a television in an OpenAI executive conference room where sensitive meetings occur.
- An FBI affidavit includes an image that prosecutors say shows Alfozan looking behind the conference-room TV and a separate complaint says his unattended bag later contained his wallet, ID and a second recording device.
- Authorities also cite reported chatbot histories tied to his wife that include prompts about building and hiding audio recorders as part of the investigative record.
- If convicted of intercepting oral communications, Alfozan faces up to five years in prison, a fine and supervised release, and his next scheduled court appearance is November 17.