OpenAI工程师被控在旧金山行政会议室电视后藏录音设备窃听机密会议，沙特籍被告最高面临5年监禁
美国司法部10月13日发布新闻稿（编号26-1173）宣布，沙特阿拉伯公民阿卜杜勒拉赫曼·阿尔福赞（Abdulrahman Alfozan，35岁）已被逮捕并被起诉。他自2025年7月起担任OpenAI工程师，被控使用或企图使用电子、机械或其他设备截听口头通信。阿尔福赞于10月9日被捕，10月13日在联邦法院首次出庭。案件由联邦调查局（FBI）调查，在加州北区联邦地区法院审理；若定罪，他最高面临5年监禁、25万美元罚款及刑满后3年监督释放。
据诉状指控，9月30日前后，OpenAI人员在旧金山一栋办公楼行政会议室的电视背面USB接口处，发现一台秘密录音设备（诉状称为Recording Device 1）。该设备藏在卫生纸中，约于9月28日安装，内容已经加密。闭路电视画面显示，阿尔福赞在设备被发现前曾多次出现在该会议室附近，但他无权进入该会议室、也无权参加在其中举行的会议。该会议室通常用于讨论高度机密的技术、商业与战略信息，包括专有研究、产品计划、业务发展机会，以及OpenAI的技术进展、战略决定、技术能力与优先事项、政府合作和商业关系等非公开信息。
诉状还指控，9月28日之前，阿尔福赞曾使用一款生产力工具多次查询OpenAI的建筑地址、会议室、会议室容量与日历、"领导层与高管"位置及外部合作伙伴会议等信息。一个与其配偶关联、并与阿尔福赞本人账户共享多个标识符的聊天机器人账户，在9月24日至30日提交了关于构建、定制、安装、测试、隐藏及远程访问录音设备的提示，涉及持续录音、Wi-Fi连接、改善收听效果、加密SD卡等内容；其中9月27日至28日提交的提示，与Recording Device 1的自定义标头及唯一MAC地址直接相关。
诉状另指控，10月5日，阿尔福赞进入该行政会议室，似乎在查看电视后方（新闻稿附有监控画面）；同日，他把一个包遗留在OpenAI另一房间，安保人员打开后发现他的钱包、身份证件，以及一台与Recording Device 1相似的录音设备（Recording Device 2）。
国家情报总监杰伊·克莱顿（Jay Clayton）表示，这一严峻事态凸显了赢得全球超级智能竞赛为何是国家安全要务，并感谢FBI局长帕特尔及执法伙伴的勤勉与迅速行动。FBI局长卡什·帕特尔（Kash Patel）表示，诉状指控阿尔福赞在雇主行政会议室内藏匿秘密录音设备，以窃听涉及超级智能技术的敏感通信；保护美国超级智能创新对经济与国家安全至关重要，是FBI最高反情报优先事项之一。加州北区联邦检察官克雷格·H·米萨基安（Craig H. Missakian）表示，湾区和硅谷引领世界技术发展，他的办公室将站在保护美国创新的前沿。
此案由助理联邦检察官尼古拉斯·帕克（Nicolas Parker）负责起诉，司法部国家安全司反情报与出口管制科审判律师凯特·塔格特（Kate Tagert）协助。司法部称，此次起诉支持旨在维护美国超级智能技术优势的第11号国家安全总统备忘录（NSPM-11）。诉状所载仅为指控，被告在被证明有罪之前推定无罪。
OpenAI Engineer Charged with Planting Hidden Recording Device in Executive Conference Room
A Saudi Arabian national who worked as an OpenAI engineer has been arrested and charged with using or endeavoring to use an electronic, mechanical or other device to intercept oral communications, the Justice Department announced on October 13 (release no. 26-1173). Abdulrahman Alfozan, 35, an OpenAI engineer since July 2025, was arrested on October 9 and made his initial appearance in federal court on October 13. If convicted, he faces a maximum of five years in prison, a $250,000 fine and three years of supervised release. The case was investigated by the FBI and is being heard in the Northern District of California.
According to the complaint, on or about September 30 OpenAI personnel discovered a surreptitious audio recording device ("Recording Device 1") inserted into a USB port on the back of a television in an executive conference room in one of the company's San Francisco buildings. The device had been concealed in toilet paper, was installed on or about September 28, and its contents were encrypted. Closed-circuit television footage showed Alfozan near the executive conference room on multiple dates before the device was discovered, although he had no authority to access the room or participate in the meetings held there. Meetings in that room frequently involved highly confidential technical, commercial and strategic information, including proprietary research, product plans and business-development opportunities, as well as nonpublic information about OpenAI's technical progress, strategic decisions, capabilities, priorities, government engagements and commercial relationships.
The complaint further alleges that before September 28, Alfozan used a productivity tool to make multiple inquiries about OpenAI's building addresses, meeting rooms, meeting-room capacities and calendars, "leadership and exec" locations and external partner meetings. A chatbot account associated with Alfozan's spouse, which shared multiple identifiers and attributes with Alfozan's own account, submitted prompts between September 24 and September 30 related to building, customizing, installing, testing, hiding and remotely accessing a recording device, including inquiries about building a continuous audio recorder, customizing Wi-Fi connectivity, improving audio and live listening, and encrypting the SD card. Prompts submitted on September 27 and 28 were specifically related to Recording Device 1, including its custom header and unique MAC address.
The complaint also alleges that on October 5, Alfozan entered the executive conference room and appeared to look behind the television into which Recording Device 1 had been inserted. The same day, he left a bag unattended in a different room in an OpenAI building; security personnel opened it and found, among other things, his wallet and identification and another recording device ("Recording Device 2") similar to Recording Device 1.
Director of National Intelligence Jay Clayton said the situation underscores why winning the global superintelligence race is a national security prerogative, and thanked the FBI for its diligence and swift action. FBI Director Kash Patel said the complaint alleges Alfozan concealed a covert recording device inside his employer's executive conference room to secretly capture sensitive communications about the company's superintelligence technology, and that protecting American superintelligence innovation is essential to the nation's economic strength and national security and one of the FBI's highest counterintelligence priorities. U.S. Attorney Craig H. Missakian for the Northern District of California said the Bay Area and Silicon Valley lead the world in developing tomorrow's technology and his office will continue to stand at the forefront of protecting that American innovation.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicolas Parker is prosecuting the case, with assistance from Trial Attorney Kate Tagert of the National Security Division's Counterintelligence and Export Control Section. The Justice Department said the prosecution supports National Security Presidential Memorandum 11 (NSPM-11), designed to support American superiority in superintelligence technology. The charges in the complaint are allegations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
图片来源：OpenAI总部所在的旧金山Pioneer大楼，HaeB摄，Wikimedia Commons，CC BY-SA 4.0
