Former OpenAI engineer accused of bugging company headquarters pleads not guilty to federal charges

Abdulrahman Alfozan faces one count of interception of oral communications.SAN FRANCISCO (CN) — The man accused of planting a listening device inside OpenAI’s San Francisco headquarters pleaded not guilty to federal charges on Friday.Abdulrahman Alfozan, 35, was indicted by a grand jury Oct. 27 on one count of intercepting oral communications. If convicted, he faces up to five years in prison, a fine of $250,000 and possible deportation.On Friday, Alfozan appeared before Magistrate Judge Peter Kang with his attorney David Rizk of the firm Rizk & Shearer.Alfozan did not speak except to state his name and age and affirm that he understood the nature of the charges against him. Assistant U.S. District Attorney Nicholas M. Parker also attended the hearing.Entering the packed courtroom, Alfozan waved toward the gallery. After the hearing, Rizk mentioned Alfozan had friends in attendance.A Saudi national and U.S. permanent resident, Alfozan worked at OpenAI from July 2025 until he was fired and arrested by the FBI on Oct. 9.Around Sept. 30, OpenAI discovered an audio recording device wrapped in toilet paper and inserted into a USB port in a television in an executive conference room, prosecutors say in a criminal complaint.The conference room was frequently used for meetings “involving discussions of highly confidential technical, commercial, and strategic information,” prosecutors say. They say Alfozan did not have the authority to access the space.The company determined the recording device was installed around Sept. 28. They identified Alfozan on security footage near the conference room on several dates between Sept. 8 and Sept. 29, prosecutors say.On Oct. 5, Alfozan was spotted on security footage entering the conference room and checking behind the television where the recording device was inserted, according to prosecutors. Around the same time, OpenAI security searched an unattended bag containing Alfozan’s wallet and ID and found a second recording device.Prosecutors also claim that Alfozan used a “productivity agent” to get more information on OpenAI’s building addresses and meeting rooms. They further say that an AI chatbot associated with his spouse contained user prompts including “to build a continuous audio recorder,” “to improve audio and live listening” and “to encrypt the SF card.”Alfozan was initially charged on Oct. 8 and made his initial appearance on Oct. 13.At an Oct. 19 detention hearing, U.S. Magistrate Judge Alex G. Tse ordered Alfozan be detained pretrial, finding there were no conditions that would reasonably assure his appearance.At the time of his arrest, Alfozan had a one-way plane ticket to Saudi Arabia scheduled for Oct. 12, prosecutors told the judge.They say the Saudi government booked and paid for his wife and son to leave the country. They claimed that Alfozan had “ample resources” from his years of working for technology companies and “what appears to be considerable support from a foreign government” with no extradition treaty with the U.S.In an Oct. 21 detention order, Tse wrote that Alfozan and his family “appear to have considerable engagement with, and support from, the Saudi government." He noted that the Saudis had offered to pay Alfozan’s full bail in advance of his detention hearing.“The defendant’s wife, infant son, parents and siblings now reside in Saudi Arabia," Tse said. “The Saudi government’s offer to pay an indeterminate and possibly limitless sum to secure the defendant’s release from custody does not assure the court that it will exercise moral suasion over the defendant to keep him in the United States.”Alfozan’s next court appearance is scheduled for Nov. 17. Both parties declined to comment.Subscribe to our free newslettersOur weekly newsletter Closing Arguments offers the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world, while the monthly Under the Lights dishes the legal dirt from Hollywood, sports, Big Tech and the arts.Additional Reads