司法部指控一名OpenAI工程师在高管会议室内 allegedly 安装录音设备后，试图窃听口头通信。调查人员称，公司安保人员在其随身包中发现了第二个设备。法庭文件将35岁的沙特国籍人士阿卜杜勒拉赫曼·阿尔福赞（Abdulrahman Alfozan）描述为自2025年7月起在OpenAI工作的工程师，自2020年9月起在美国拥有永久居留权。
The Department of Justice has charged an OpenAI engineer with attempting to intercept oral communications after allegedly planting a recording device in an exec conference room. Investigators claim company security staff found a second device in his bag. Saudi national Abdulrahman Alfozan, 35, is described in court documents as an engineer at OpenAI who had worked there since July 2025, and has held permanent residency in the US since September 2020.
他于10月9日被捕，并于10月13日首次出庭接受联邦审理。他被指控于2026年9月28日左右，通过位于OpenAI高管会议室内电视机的USB端口安装了一台Seeed XIAO ESP32-S3 Sense录音设备。根据起诉书，工作人员于9月30日在卫生纸内发现了该设备。OpenAI表示，它使用自身的模型对该设备进行了分析。根据起诉书，该设备可能经过改装，以阻止录音设备与电视机之间的数据传输。
He was arrested on October 9 and made his initial federal court appearance on October 13. He is accused of installing, on or around September 28, 2026, a Seeed XIAO ESP32-S3 Sense recording device via a USB port in a TV located in OpenAI's executive conference room. According to the complaint, staff discovered the device concealed in toilet paper on September 30. OpenAI said it used its models to analyze the device. According to the complaint, it may have been modified to prevent data transfer between the recorder and the TV.
该设备microSD卡的内容也可能已被加密，因为公司在对其进行取证镜像后，无法检索卡中存储的任何数据。监控录像显示他在数天内曾出现在会议室附近，尽管检方称阿尔福赞无权进入或参与在高管会议室举行的会议，该会议室通常用于最高层级的讨论。官员们未说明该设备是否能够捕获重要内容，但表示该会议室通常用于非公开和保密的技术会议，以及政府代表参加的会议。
The contents of the bug's microSD card may also have been encrypted, as the company could not retrieve any of the data stored on the card after making a forensic image of it. CCTV footage placed him near the room on several dates, although prosecutors say Alfozan had no authority to access or participate in meetings held in the executive conference room, which is often reserved for the highest-level discussions. Officials did not state whether the device was able to capture anything of importance, but said the room typically plays host to non-public and secret technical meetings, as well as those with government representatives.
OpenAI在该隐蔽设备被安装时，高管会议室并未安装闭路电视，但公司随后安装了一台摄像头。法庭文件[PDF]包含一张于10月5日拍摄的图像，该图像来自安装在电视机后方的摄像头，司法部称录音设备正是安装在此电视机中，图像据称显示阿尔福赞正在检查该设备。
OpenAI did not have CCTV covering the executive conference room at the time when the secret device was planted, but the company subsequently installed a camera. Court documents [PDF] include an image taken on October 5 from a camera situated behind the TV into which the DoJ claims the recording device was installed, allegedly showing Alfozan checking on it.
根据起诉书，调查人员检查了阿尔福赞的设备。起诉书称，2026年8月17日至9月16日期间，阿尔福赞使用生产力代理人询问了公司大楼地址、会议室、房间容量和日程安排，以及外部合作伙伴的会议场所。起诉书还描述了与其配偶关联的AI聊天机器人账户，该账户与阿尔福赞的账户共享了安装标识符、记录的IP使用情况和用户路径引用。
Investigators examined Alfozan's devices, according to the complaint, which alleges that between around August 17 and September 16, 2026, Alfozan used a productivity agent to inquire about company building addresses, meeting rooms, room capacities and calendars, and external-partner meeting venues. The complaint also describes an AI chatbot account associated with his spouse that shared installation identifiers, logged IP usage, and user-path references with Alfozan's account. Between September 24 and 30, it submitted prompts about building and modifying an audio-recording device.
9月24日至30日期间，该账户提交了关于建造和修改音频录音设备的提示。这些提示据称包括与录音可靠性相关的问题、如何添加浏览器访问和控制、如何开发具有语音触发录音功能的第二个单元等。10月5日，据称阿尔福赞当时正在行政会议室电视机后方被录像，公司代表表示他将一个袋子无人看管地留在了办公室的打印机房。
The prompts allegedly included questions related to recording reliability, how to add browser access and controls, how to develop a second unit with speech-triggered recording, and more. On October 5, the day Alfozan was allegedly recorded looking behind the executive conference room TV, company representatives say he left a bag unattended in the office's printer room. Security staff inspected the bag, finding a wallet, an ID card, and a second Seeed-manufactured recording device, before Alfozan reported the bag missing, according to the DoJ.
安保人员检查了该袋子，发现里面有一个钱包、一张身份证和一台由Seeed制造的第二个录音设备，随后阿尔福赞才报告称该袋子丢失，司法部如是称。他次日从公司的失物招领处领回了该袋子，后来在一份书面报告中声称有几件物品丢失，包括一张信用卡、约500美元现金、两副AirPods、一副耳机、太阳镜和一个移动电源。
He collected the bag the following day from the company's Lost and Found, and later claimed in a written report that several items were missing, including a credit card, around $500 in cash, two AirPods, one set of headphones, sunglasses, and a power bank. Alfozan was charged with an attempt to intercept oral communications, an offense that carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
阿尔福赞被指控企图非法拦截口头通信，该罪名最高可判处五年有期徒刑并处25万美元罚款。“根据今日公开的起诉书，阿卜杜勒拉赫曼·阿尔福赞 allegedly 在其雇主的行政会议室内藏匿了一台隐蔽录音设备，以秘密捕捉关于公司超级智能技术的敏感通讯，”FBI局长卡什·帕特尔说道。
"According to the complaint unsealed today, Abdulrahman Alfozan allegedly concealed a covert recording device inside his employer's executive conference room to secretly capture sensitive communications about the company's super intelligence technology," said FBI director Kash Patel. "Protecting American SI innovation is essential to safeguarding our nation's economic strength and national security, and the FBI views that mission as one of our highest counterintelligence priorities."
“保护美国的SI创新对于维护我国的经济实力和国家安全至关重要，FBI将此任务视为我们最高的反情报优先事项之一。”
"At this time, we have no indications of this individual inappropriately accessing or exfiltrating model weights, source code, or customer data," OpenAI said in a statement.
“截至目前，我们没有任何迹象表明该个人不当访问或外泄模型权重、源代码或客户数据，”OpenAI在声明中说。“该员工已被解雇。”
"The employee was terminated." "We take protecting our technology, data, and people seriously, and as a matter of national importance.
“我们严肃对待技术、数据和人员的保护，这也是一项国家层面的重要事务。我们的安全计划旨在防御包括内部风险、网络犯罪分子以及国家行为体在内的广泛威胁，而此案例正是人工智能帮助应对这些复杂安全威胁的一个例子。”
Our security program is designed to protect against a wide range of threat actors, from insider risks to cybercriminals to nation states, and this case is an example of how AI can help address these sophisticated security threats." ®