OpenAI employee with Saudi links busted collecting 'superintelligence' information

OpenAI employee with Saudi links busted collecting 'superintelligence' information Topic: Cyber Crime Posted Wed 14 Oct 2026 at 10:24am Wed 14 Oct 2026 at 10:24am Wed 14 Oct 2026 at 10:24am , updated Wed 14 Oct 2026 at 12:52pm Wed 14 Oct 2026 at 12:52pm Wed 14 Oct 2026 at 12:52pm A 35-year-old Saudi national has been charged after the discovery of audio devices in an OpenAI conference room. ( Supplied: US Department of Justice ) In short: OpenAI has said a "covert" recording device, allegedly installed by an employee with links to Saudi Arabia, was discovered in a conference room. The employee, identified as a 35-year-old Abdulrahman Alfozan, has been arrested and charged with using or endeavouring to use an electronic, mechanical, or other device to intercept oral communications. What's next? Officials have yet to determine what Mr Alfozan may have wanted to do with any captured communications. An OpenAI engineer has been charged with secretly installing a recording device in a conference room, in what officials say was an effort to capture sensitive conversations about the company's technology. The employee, identified as a 35-year-old Saudi national named Abdulrahman Alfozan, was arrested a week after the ChatGPT maker discovered the device. The US Department of Justice released a statement on Tuesday, local time, detailing OpenAI's complaint after the discovery. In it, FBI director Kash Patel said Mr Alfozan "allegedly concealed a covert recording device inside his employer's executive conference room to secretly capture sensitive communications about the company's superintelligence technology." The term superintelligence has been adopted by the White House after Donald Trump issued an executive order demanding administration officials use it in place of the term artificial intelligence. The complaint did not identify the company, but OpenAI later confirmed in a statement on X that it uncovered a "sophisticated recording device" in one of its offices. "We used our models to understand the device and where it had come from, identifying that a specific employee had planted it a few days earlier," the statement read. "We referred the matter to the FBI, and we’re grateful to the agents and prosecutors who moved quickly to make an arrest." The department said Mr Alfozan, who had been working at OpenAI since July 25, was fired shortly after. Loading Twitter content The department said the company's complaint did not detail what Mr Alfozan might have wanted to do with any captured communications. Mr Alfozan faces a charge of using or endeavouring to use an electronic, mechanical, or other device to intercept oral communications. He made his first court appearance on Tuesday, local time, and it was not immediately clear whether he had a lawyer to speak on his behalf. According to the complaint, the recording device was found on September 30 concealed in toilet paper and inserted into a USB port on the back of a television in the conference room. Though the conference room where the recording device was found did not have a camera at the time it was installed, closed-circuit television footage inside the company's offices revealed that Mr Alfozan was near the conference room on half a dozen occasions last month despite not having any authority to access the space, the complaint said. The covert recording device was discovered inside an OpenAI conference room. ( Supplied: US Department of Justice ) The company later added a camera to the room, which captured Mr Alfozan entering and checking behind the television where the recording device was installed, according to the FBI. The complaint also said he used a productivity tool to make multiple inquiries about the company's building addresses, meeting rooms, meeting-room capacities and calendars. Before his arrest last week, the complaint said Mr Alfozan left an unattended bag in another room in the building that included his wallet, identification, and another recording device. ABC/AP