The charge is an allegation, not a conviction, and the FBI investigation remains open.
What the complaint alleges
According to the Justice Departmentās summary of the complaint, OpenAI personnel found the recorder Sept. 30. It had been plugged into a USB port behind a television, concealed in toilet paper and encrypted. OpenAI determined that it had been installed around Sept. 28.
The complaint says surveillance footage showed Alfozan near the conference room on several dates and that he was not authorized to enter it or attend meetings there. Prosecutors say those meetings often included confidential technical, commercial and strategic information.
The complaint also describes queries submitted through a chatbot account associated with Alfozanās spouse, which prosecutors say shared identifiers with his account. It alleges that the account asked about building, installing, obscuring, remotely accessing and encrypting a recorder, and later asked about details tied to the deviceās unique MAC address. The filing does not establish who personally entered each query.
OpenAI security personnel also allegedly found a similar second recorder in an unattended bag that contained Alfozanās wallet and identification.
OpenAI says its models helped trace the device
In its public statement, OpenAI said it used its models to understand the device and trace where it came from, identifying a specific employee. The company said it referred the matter to the FBI and terminated the employee. That is OpenAIās account of the modelsā role; the Justice Departmentās release does not independently detail how the analysis worked.
OpenAI also said it had no indication that the individual improperly accessed or removed model weights, source code or customer data. That wording leaves the investigation open and does not establish what, if anything, the encrypted recorder captured.
The San Francisco Standard reported that OpenAI coordinated the employeeās termination with the FBI and gradually restricted his access before the arrest. The outlet said a detention hearing was scheduled for Oct. 19.
If convicted, Alfozan faces a statutory maximum of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine, followed by three years of supervised release. The maximum is not a prediction of any sentence.
