Saudi employee accused of planting listening device at OpenAI headquarters pleads not guilty
According to CNBC, 35-year-old Saudi employee Abdulrahman Alfozan, who was accused of planting a listening device at OpenAI’s San Francisco headquarters, appeared in federal court in San Francisco on Friday local time and pleaded not guilty to the charges. Court records show that a grand jury indicted him on October 27 on one count of intercepting oral communications, and if convicted, he faces a maximum of five years in prison.
Alfozan has been held without bail since his arrest in early October. The judge ordered him to appear again on November 17. Prosecutors alleged that around September 28 he installed a recording device behind a television in an OpenAI executive conference room; the device was discovered on September 30 and was disguised with toilet paper.
Alfozan joined OpenAI as an engineer in July 2025 and was fired on the day he was arrested. His lawyer declined to comment after the hearing.
Original source:
Title: OpenAI bugging suspect Alfozan pleads not guilty Publisher: CNBC Publication date: 2026-11-06 URL: https://www.cnbc.com/2026/11/06/openai-bugging-alfozan-saudi.html Source type: media report (citing court records) Verification: This read-through cross-checked the full CNBC article with WSJ and Courthouse News, verification date 2026-11-06 Supporting content: supports all core facts in the body, the indictment date, the charge, and the detention status
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35-year-old Saudi OpenAI engineer Abdulrahman Alfozan pleaded not guilty on November 6 in federal court in San Francisco to the charge of intercepting oral communications. A grand jury indicted him on one count on October 27, and he faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison. Alfozan has been held without bail since his arrest around October 9, and his next court appearance is scheduled for November 17.
Prosecutors alleged that around September 28, Alfozan installed a recording device behind a television in an OpenAI executive conference room; the device was discovered on September 30 after being disguised with toilet paper and inserted into a USB port. Alfozan joined OpenAI in July 2025 and was fired on the day he was arrested. His lawyer declined to comment after the hearing.
Compared with OpenAI discovering the device and contacting police, this was the plea phase after formal charges were filed. The similarity is that both revolve around the same recording-device incident; the key difference is that the not-guilty plea moves the case into the next stage of proceedings rather than an early plea agreement. Prosecutors had previously also mentioned communications between Alfozan and members of the Saudi royal family, but no new allegation details were raised at this appearance.
For Alfozan, pleading not guilty means the case will continue to move forward, and he faces trial while in custody. For OpenAI, the incident has entered the federal judicial process, involving a publicly alleged recording device in an executive conference room. For the court, the next appearance is set for November 17, which will further clarify the case’s progress.
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The grand jury indicted him on October 27 on one count, and he faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison.
Alfozan has been held without bail since his arrest in early October, and his next court appearance is set for November 17.
Prosecutors alleged that the device was installed around September 28, discovered on September 30, and disguised with toilet paper.