Former OpenAI Engineer Pleads Not Guilty to Planting Covert Device in Executive Meeting Room

Former OpenAI engineer Abdulrahman Alfozan, 35, has pleaded not guilty in San Francisco federal court to a single count of interception of oral communications, after prosecutors alleged he planted a sophisticated covert recording device in an executive conference room at OpenAI. Alfozan has been held without bail since his arrest on October 9, 2026, three days before a booked one-way flight to Riyadh, and faces up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine if convicted; his next hearing is November 17, 2026.