A 35-year-old OpenAI engineer was arrested and charged with using or attempting to use a device to intercept oral communications after an encrypted recorder was found in an executive conference room at the company’s San Francisco headquarters, federal prosecutors said. Abdulrahman Alfozan, a Saudi national who joined OpenAI’s product team in July 2025, appeared in federal court Tuesday and remained in custody. The charge carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine if he is convicted. A detention hearing was scheduled for Oct. 19. According to the federal criminal complaint, a security sweep on Sept. 30 uncovered the device plugged into a USB port behind a television and concealed in toilet paper. Investigators believe it was installed around Sept. 28. The room was used by executives discussing confidential research, business plans and government partnerships. Prosecutors allege security footage placed Alfozan near the room before the device was found, despite his not being authorized to enter it or attend meetings there. The complaint also describes searches for information about OpenAI’s offices, conference rooms and leadership meetings using a workplace tool, as well as questions submitted through a chatbot account associated with his spouse about building and hiding audio-recording equipment. On Oct. 5, investigators say, footage showed Alfozan entering the room and looking behind the television. Security personnel that day also found an unattended bag in another room containing his wallet, identification and a second device resembling the one discovered behind the television, prosecutors said. OpenAI said its artificial-intelligence models helped investigators examine the device and identify the employee suspected of planting it. The company said it referred the matter to the FBI, gradually restricted Alfozan’s access and coordinated his termination with federal investigators. It said its review found no indication that the incident compromised product safety or customer information, and that it had evidence suggesting he intended to place additional devices in sensitive locations. “For us it is a matter of national security,” U.S. Attorney Craig Missakian said in a statement. The arrest comes days after OpenAI disclosed that it had fired three researchers following an internal investigation into alleged violations of policies on sensitive information. The FBI investigation into the recording-device case is continuing.