{
  "id": 14516524,
  "title": "This is the $24 gizmo the FBI says was used to bug OpenAI's offices",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/14/this-is-the-24-gizmo-the-fbi-says-was-used-to-bug-openais-offices",
  "topic": "ai",
  "section": "AI",
  "published": "2026-10-14T19:01:41.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Business Insider",
    "slug": "business-insider",
    "url": "https://www.businessinsider.com/openai-office-bugging-device-ai-seeed-studio-xiao-2026-10"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "The FBI alleges that a former employee at OpenAI utilized a $24 recording device to surreptitiously bug the company's San Francisco offices. This basic microcontroller, available for purchase on Amazon, boasts features such as speech-activated recording software and encryption technology, ostensibly designed to obfuscate the content of the recorded conversations. The suspect, Abdulrahman Alfozan, a 35-year-old Saudi national, was apprehended the day after his account on a chatbot was detected attempting to optimize the device's recording capabilities. The device in question is the Seeed Studio XIAO ESP32-S3 Sense, a compact computer equipped with a built-in microphone and Bluetooth connector, commonly utilized in home automation systems and tech projects. Despite its seemingly rudimentary design, it can record audio and save it to a memory card, akin to a conventional digital voice recorder. The FBI has charged Alfozan with using or attempting to use an electronic, mechanical, or other device to intercept oral communications.",
  "summary": "The recording device the FBI says was used to bug an OpenAI conference room isn't exactly state-of-the-art.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 2,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "Fortune",
        "title": "FBI says an OpenAI engineer used his wife’s AI chatbot to figure out how to plant a secret recording device at the office",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/14/fbi-says-an-openai-engineer-used-his-wifes-ai-chatbot-to-figure-out",
        "published": "2026-10-14T17:12:14.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}