Saudi national arrested for installing surreptitious audio recording

Abdulrahman Alfozan, 35, an OpenAI engineer, was arrested Oct. 9, 2026, accused of using a device to intercept oral communications; he is in federal custody and will appear Oct. 19.

On Sept. 30 a hidden recorder was found in a TV in an executive conference room; CCTV showed Alfozan near the room on multiple dates despite lacking access. Chatbot prompts tied to his and his spouse’s accounts sought instructions on building, installing, encrypting, and remotely accessing continuous audio recorders. Another similar device was found in his bag.

If convicted he faces up to five years, a $250,000 fine, plus supervised release.