Former OpenAI Employee Pleads Not Guilty to Federal Bugging Charge
Abdulrahman Alfozan, held without bail since October, faces up to five years in prison over an alleged listening device planted at the company's San Francisco headquarters.
A former OpenAI worker accused of planting a listening device inside the company's San Francisco headquarters pleaded not guilty in federal court on Friday, according to reporting by CNBC Business (https://www.cnbc.com/2026/11/06/openai-bugging-alfozan-saudi.html).
Abdulrahman Alfozan, a 35-year-old Saudi national, appeared briefly in U.S. District Court in San Francisco before being remanded to federal custody. Alfozan has been detained without bail since his arrest on a criminal complaint in early October.
A federal grand jury indicted Alfozan on Oct. 27 on a single count of interception of oral communications. If convicted, he faces a statutory maximum penalty of five years in prison.
Prosecutors allege that Alfozan placed the recording equipment inside OpenAI's offices while working as an employee. As part of its investigation, the U.S. Department of Justice released a still image that authorities say captures Alfozan inspecting a recording device at the facility.
Counsel representing Alfozan declined to comment following the hearing, and court records indicate no trial date has yet been set.
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