# Former OpenAI Engineer Pleads Not Guilty in Recorder Case By Riza Dagoc Canonical URL: https://www.tokenpost.com/news/regulation/51721 Published: 2026-11-08T17:50:36.000Z Updated: 2026-11-08T17:50:36.000Z Section: Regulation > A grand jury indicted Abdulrahman Alfozan on one count of intercepting oral communications; his next court appearance is set for Nov. 17. Former OpenAI engineer Abdulrahman Alfozan pleaded not guilty Friday in federal court in San Francisco to a charge of intercepting oral communications tied to an alleged recorder in an executive meeting room. Prosecutors allege Alfozan concealed a recording device inside a television in a room used for OpenAI executive meetings on Sept. 28. A grand jury indicted him Oct. 27 on one count. If convicted, he faces up to five years in prison. Alfozan has been held without bail since his Oct. 9 arrest. Magistrate Judge Peter Kang set his next court appearance for Nov. 17. The FBI has also examined whether Alfozan intended to transfer OpenAI information to the Saudi government. That inquiry concerns a possible additional charge, covered in an [earlier report on a possible economic-espionage charge](). ## Links in this article - [earlier report on a possible economic-espionage charge](https://www.tokenpost.com/news/regulation/40309)