the homemade bug, featuring seeed studio hardware:

Abdulrahman Alfozan coming back to check on it, after it had been discovered:

Photo of him the NY Post says is from instagram:

Saudi OpenAI engineer bugged top secret meetings with toilet paper trickery, feds say after bombshell arrest

Saudi engineer Abdulrahman Alfozan was arrested at OpenAI for allegedly hiding a secret audio recording device to steal confidential information.

California Post (nypost.com)

https://sfstandard.com/2026/10/13/openai-engineer-arrested-alleged-bugging-executive-conference-room/ (part-paywalled)

OpenAI Newsroom (@OpenAINewsroom) on X

We discovered a sophisticated recording device that was hidden inside one of our offices. We used our models to understand the device and where it had come from, identifying that a specific employee had planted it a few days earlier. We referred the matter to the FBI, and we’re grateful to the agen…

X (formerly Twitter) (x.com)

OpenAI finds recording device in one of their offices | Hacker News

(news.ycombinator.com)

Saudi National Arrested for Installing Surreptitious Audio Recording Device at OpenAI

An employee of OpenAI has been arrested for and charged with using or endeavoring to use an electronic, mechanical, or other device to intercept oral communications.

(www.justice.gov)