OpenAI 员工 Abdulrahman Alfozan 因涉嫌在公司位于旧金山办公室的高管会议室中放置隐藏录音设备而被捕并遭到起诉。该设备于9月30日被 OpenAI 安保团队在电视机后方的 USB 接口处查获，并用卫生纸进行伪装，据称于9月28日左右放置。司法部指出，身为沙乌地阿拉伯籍的 Alfozan 于10月9日被捕，现处于联邦拘留中，且在被捕当日即被 OpenAI 解雇。
据称 Alfozan 并无权限进入该涉及高度机密技术、商业及战略讯息的会议室，OpenAI 甚至运用自家 AI 模型来解析设备并锁定嫌疑人。调查发现他留下的袋子中还有另一台类似设备，显示其有在其他区域秘密录音的企图。不过，OpenAI 在社交平台表示，目前没有任何迹象显示模型权重、原始码或客户数据遭不当存取或外泄，案件已通报 FBI 并持续调查中。
起诉书指出涉案设备为 Seeed Xiao ESP32-S3 Sense，这是一款拇指大小、配备麦克风与存储卡的开发板，售价仅约14美元且易于隐藏及无线传输。公开资料显示，拥有麻省理工与加州大学伯克利分校学历的 Alfozan 曾任职 Meta，在 OpenAI 担任 AI 代理软体工程主管，同时兼任沙乌地创投机构合伙人。此事件进一步引发了全球 AI 竞赛背景下顶尖科技公司内部安全的广泛关注。
An OpenAI employee, Abdulrahman Alfozan, was arrested and charged with placing a covert recording device inside an executive conference room at the company's San Francisco office. The device was discovered by OpenAI's security team on September 30, plugged into a USB port behind a television and disguised with toilet paper, having allegedly been planted around September 28. The Department of Justice stated that Alfozan, a Saudi Arabian national, was taken into federal custody on October 9 and fired by OpenAI on the same day.
Alfozan lacked authorization to access the conference room, which routinely hosted discussions on highly confidential technical, commercial, and strategic matters, prompting OpenAI to utilize its own AI models to analyze the hardware and identify the perpetrator. Security personnel later found an additional matching device in a bag he left behind, suggesting further plans for unauthorized recording across the office. Nevertheless, OpenAI confirmed on social media that there is no indication that model weights, source code, or customer data were compromised or exfiltrated as the FBI-assisted probe continues.
Court filings revealed the hardware was a Seeed Xiao ESP32-S3 Sense—a thumb-sized hobbyist development board equipped with a microphone and microSD storage retailing for approximately $14, rendering it both economical and simple to conceal. Alfozan, who holds degrees from MIT and UC Berkeley with prior experience at Meta, served as an engineering lead on AI agents at OpenAI while concurrently partnering at a Saudi venture firm. The incident has heightened broader concerns regarding corporate espionage and internal security at premier tech firms during an era of fierce AI competition.