A Saudi national has been charged with allegedly planting a concealed recording device in an OpenAI office in California, United States, according to federal prosecutors.

Abdulrahman Alfozan, a former engineer at the artificial intelligence company, faces a federal charge of using or attempting to use an electronic, mechanical or other device to intercept oral communications.

OpenAI said it discovered a “sophisticated recording device” concealed in its San Francisco office and alerted the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

According to prosecutors, the device, wrapped in toilet paper, was discovered plugged into a USB port at the back of a television in an executive conference room.

In a post on X, OpenAI said it used its internal artificial intelligence models to analyse the device, which it described as “sophisticated”.

“At this time, we have no indications of this individual inappropriately accessing or exfiltrating model weights, source code, or customer data,” said OpenAI in its post on X.

OpenAI spokesperson Nate Evans confirmed that Alfozan joined the artificial intelligence company in July 2025 and worked on its product team.

Prosecutors said Alfozan was charged with using an electronic device to intercept oral communications.

The charge alleges that he secretly recorded people’s conversations without their consent.

The purpose of the recording device remains unclear.

However, FBI Director Kash Patel said the alleged scheme was intended to “capture sensitive communications about the company’s super intelligence technology”.