An OpenAI engineer allegedly used a chatbot to help prepare a listening device hidden in toilet paper inside an executive conference room.
A recording device concealed in toilet paper and plugged into a television is an unlikely discovery at one of the world’s leading AI companies. Federal prosecutors say that is exactly what OpenAI staff found inside an executive conference room—and that an engineer’s chatbot history helped connect him to it.
Abdulrahman Alfozan, 35, was arrested on October 9 and appeared in federal court on October 13, charged with using or attempting to use a device to intercept oral communications. He had worked at OpenAI since July 2025. The company says it has since fired him.
According to prosecutors, staff discovered the recorder on September 30 behind a television at an OpenAI office in San Francisco. Investigators believe it had been installed roughly two days earlier. Its location put it near discussions involving confidential research, product plans, business strategy and government relationships.
The questions allegedly started before the recorder appeared
Prosecutors allege Alfozan used a workplace productivity tool to look up office addresses, meeting rooms and calendars, including the locations of executive meetings and sessions with outside partners.
Then there were the chatbot conversations. An account associated with his wife allegedly submitted questions about building and modifying recording equipment, covering continuous audio capture, remote access and encrypted storage. Investigators say shared technical identifiers and usage information connected that account to Alfozan’s own account.
The connection went beyond general electronics questions: some prompts allegedly included identifiers matching the recorder found in the conference room. Those details form part of the prosecution’s effort to link the digital trail to the physical device. The account’s association with his wife does not establish that she wrote the prompts.
Someone came back to look behind the TV
According to court documents described by The Register, no camera covered the conference room when the recorder was allegedly installed. OpenAI subsequently added one.
On October 5, that camera captured Alfozan apparently looking behind the television where the device had been discovered, prosecutors say. Security personnel also allegedly found a second, similar recorder that day inside a bag he had left unattended elsewhere in the office, along with his wallet and identification.
Recovering the first device did not immediately reveal what it contained. Its storage appeared to be encrypted, preventing OpenAI from reviewing the data. What, if anything, it successfully recorded remains unclear.
OpenAI says its models helped investigate
The chatbot connection runs in both directions. While prosecutors allege AI tools helped with preparations for the recording device, OpenAI says it used its own models to help analyze the hardware.
WIRED reported that the company connected the device to Alfozan through its review of chat logs, surveillance footage and the unattended bag. OpenAI then progressively restricted his access as the investigation continued.
The company says it has found no indication that he improperly accessed or extracted model weights, source code or customer data. Prosecutors have not publicly identified an intended recipient for any recordings or alleged that he was working for a foreign government.
Alfozan is presumed innocent. If convicted, he faces a maximum of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. A detention hearing is scheduled for October 19. For now, the device’s alleged disguise is public knowledge; what it captured and why it was placed there are not.