Recording device hidden in toilet paper found in top-secret OpenAI meeting room

Brief overview

The FBI accused Saudi engineer Abdulrahman Alfozan of hiding recording equipment in an OpenAI confidential meeting room, intending to steal highly sensitive information involving technology, government, and business cooperation, and threatening national security. The USB device was wrapped in toilet paper by Alfozan and inserted into the back of a television. OpenAI discovered and confirmed the content was encrypted on September 30 and, after installing a camera on October 5, surveillance footage showed Alfozan attempting to retrieve the device. Alfozan was arrested after working as an OpenAI engineer for a year.

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It took OpenAI two days to notice that a recording device was hidden in a restricted executive conference room where leadership met to discuss highly confidential information, including technical progress, government engagements, and commercial partnerships.

Only those with special clearance are supposed to access that room. But the FBI believes the recording device was planted by Abdulrahman Alfozan, a 35-year-old engineer from Saudi Arabia, who became a permanent US legal resident in 2020. In a press release Tuesday announcing his arrest, the FBI alleged that chatbot logs and CCTV footage suggested that Alfozan—who worked as an OpenAI engineer for more than a year—sought to use the device to spy on OpenAI and risked leaking trade secrets in a way that threatened national security.

To conceal the USB device, Alfozan allegedly wrapped it in toilet paper, then plugged it into the back of a conference room television. The device was likely planted on September 28, and OpenAI found it on September 30 and quickly determined that its contents were encrypted, the FBI said. Days later, on October 5, OpenAI installed a camera in that conference room, and the CCTV footage allegedly showed Alfozan attempting to retrieve the recording device that same day.

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