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Saudi national charged with planting recording device at OpenAI office

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Coverage spectrum

Covered by 24 outlets across the spectrum.

54 articles in total, 2 of them opinion. The spectrum counts each outlet once and leaves opinion out. How we measure bias

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Federal prosecutors have charged Abdulrahman Alfozan, 35, a Saudi national who worked as an engineer at OpenAI, with allegedly planting a concealed recording device in one of the company’s San Francisco offices. Outlets across the spectrum report that the FBI arrested him earlier in October and that the Justice Department announced the charges. OpenAI said its security staff found the device hidden in a conference room and contacted the FBI. Prosecutors allege he intended to secretly record confidential conversations. These are allegations, and he has not been convicted.

Headline and summary written by Mantle’s AI from the coverage below, under published rules. How this works

What happened

Key points

Each point shows who reports it, from Far Left to Far Right.

  1. Federal prosecutors charged Abdulrahman Alfozan, 35, a Saudi national who worked as an OpenAI engineer, with allegedly planting a concealed recording device at the company’s San Francisco office.

    Across the spectrumReported byLeft3Center3Right3Far Right1See the outletsHide the outlets
    Left
    CBS News, The New York Times, Al Jazeera English
    Center
    Sky News, Financial Times, CNBC
    Right
    Washington Examiner, Daily Mail, New York Post
    Far Right
    Just the News

  2. The FBI arrested Alfozan in early October, days before the charges were announced.

    Reported byLeft1Center1Right3Far Right1See the outletsHide the outlets
    Left
    The New York Times
    Center
    Deutsche Welle
    Right
    Washington Examiner, Daily Mail, New York Post
    Far Right
    Just the News

  3. OpenAI said its security staff found a hidden device in a conference room and contacted the FBI.

    Across the spectrumReported byLeft2Center3Right1Far Right1See the outletsHide the outlets
    Left
    Business Insider, The New York Times
    Center
    Financial Times, CNBC, Deutsche Welle
    Right
    Washington Examiner
    Far Right
    Just the News

  4. OpenAI said Alfozan planned to secretly record meetings in other sensitive spaces.

    Reported byLeft1Right2See the outletsHide the outlets
    Left
    The New York Times
    Right
    Washington Examiner, Daily Mail

How each side tells it

Compare views

All three sides report that a Saudi OpenAI engineer was charged with planting a hidden recording device at its San Francisco office. Left and center headlines mostly attribute the accusation to OpenAI or prosecutors, while right-side headlines more often state the arrest and charge flatly.

  • the left

    4 outlets

    Left-side headlines lead with the company’s account or the accusation, using ‘says’, ‘accused’ or ‘suspected’ to attribute the device and the charge.

    F.B.I. Arrests OpenAI Employee Accused of Planting Bug in Office
    The New York TimesLeftAll left-leaning headlines

  • the center

    9 outlets

    Center headlines pair the government charge or the company’s description with attribution, most often using ‘allegedly’ or ‘says’.

    US indicts Saudi employee of OpenAI for allegedly bugging its offices
    Financial TimesCenterAll center headlines

  • the right

    11 outlets · 2 opinion

    Right-side headlines state the arrest and charge directly, and Just the News drops the allegation qualifier entirely; the New York Post leads with online mockery of the suspect.

    FBI arrests OpenAI employee for placing an audio recording device inside company conference room
    Just the NewsFar RightAll right-leaning headlines

The words they chose

Language to notice

Words that carry a judgement beyond the facts. Tap a highlighted word anywhere on the page to see why.

  • Left1

    gifted engineer

  • Center1

    has shocked tech figures

  • Right21

    buggedtrickerybombshellAn alarming story

In the outlets’ own words

  • Loaded verb

    buggedMore neutral: placed recording devices in

    “Bugged” is a loaded verb that adds drama to what the complaint describes as placing recording devices.

    Saudi OpenAI engineer bugged top secret meetings with toilet paper trickery, feds say after bombshell arrest

    Used byNew York Post (Right)

  • Sensational language

    trickeryMore neutral: concealment

    “Trickery” adds a sense of cunning that the complaint does not state; it describes a concealment method.

    Saudi OpenAI engineer bugged top secret meetings with toilet paper trickery, feds say after bombshell arrest

    Used byNew York Post (Right)

  • Sensational language

    bombshellMore neutral: arrest

    “Bombshell” is a dramatic label for the arrest that the reported facts do not require.

    …engineer bugged top secret meetings with toilet paper trickery, feds say after bombshell arrest

    Used byNew York Post (Right)

  • Sensational language

    An alarming storyMore neutral: A case

    Calling the story alarming is the writer's judgement rather than a fact about the event.

    An alarming story is breaking Tuesday afternoon involving a Saudi national who worked as an…

    Used byRedState (Far Right)

Show 19 more phrasesShow fewer

  • Sensational language

    the details get weirderMore neutral: the complaint includes further details

    The phrase manufactures drama about the details without stating them.

    …inside the company’s executive offices in San Francisco, California – and the details get weirder the deeper you dig into it.

    Used byRedState (Far Right)

  • Loaded verb

    BustsMore neutral: arrests

    Busts implies a raid or police success before the facts are established; the charge is an allegation.

    FBI Busts Saudi Engineer Accused of Bugging Top OpenAI Execs, and Somehow Toilet Paper Is…

    Used byRedState (Far Right)

  • Sensational language

    Somehow Toilet Paper Is InvolvedMore neutral: device was concealed in toilet paper

    The wording mocks the story to draw attention rather than stating the fact that the device was concealed in toilet paper.

    FBI Busts Saudi Engineer Accused of Bugging Top OpenAI Execs, and Somehow Toilet Paper Is Involved

    Used byRedState (Far Right)

  • Sensational language

    chilling failureMore neutral: a serious security lapse

    The phrase is a judgement about the case placed in the writer’s own voice rather than a reported fact.

    For a company developing some of America’s most valuable technology, that’s a chilling failure.

    Used byPJ Media (Far Right)

  • Sensational language

    top secret meetingsMore neutral: confidential meetings

    The complaint describes confidential and sensitive meetings, not top secret ones.

    …at the company's executive conference room in an apparent effort to record top secret meetings.

    Used byDaily Mail (Right)

  • Sensational language

    prized informationMore neutral: information about the company

    Calls the information prized, a value judgement that the charge itself does not state.

    …planting a recording device inside the tech giant's headquarters to capture prized information about the company.

    Used byThe Washington Times (Right)

  • Sensational language

    has shocked tech figuresMore neutral: has drawn reaction from tech figures

    Uses a dramatic verb to describe reaction without giving the source of the reaction.

    Arrest of computer engineer Abdulrahman Alfozan has shocked tech figures in Saudi Arabia, where he is deeply connected

    Used byFinancial Times (Center)

  • Loaded verb

    NabsMore neutral: arrests

    Uses a verb suited to catching a criminal, which presents the arrest as settled before the charges are tested.

    FBI Nabs Saudi National Accused Of Hiding Bug In Toilet Paper To Spy On AI Giant’s Inner Sanctum

    Used byThe Daily Caller (Far Right)

  • Sensational language

    Inner SanctumMore neutral: executive conference room

    Adds dramatic framing to a conference room that the charge describes plainly.

    FBI Nabs Saudi National Accused Of Hiding Bug In Toilet Paper To Spy On AI Giant’s Inner Sanctum

    Used byThe Daily Caller (Far Right)

  • Absolutist framing

    Planted Bug to Spy on ExecutivesMore neutral: accused of planting bug in executive conference room

    Presents an allegation in the charging papers as established fact in the headline.

    FBI: Saudi Arabian OpenAI Employee Planted Bug to Spy on Executives

    Used byBreitbart News (Far Right)

  • Loaded modifier

    gifted engineerMore neutral: engineer

    Calling him gifted states a judgement of his talent as fact that the coverage does not establish.

    A gifted engineer.

    Used byBusiness Insider (Left)

  • Sensational language

    corporate espionage caseMore neutral: corporate recording case

    The word espionage adds a label of spying that the described charge of intercepting oral communications does not state.

    (The Center Square) - A Saudi national has been arrested in an alleged corporate espionage case and is charged with attempting to steal artificial intelligence technology…

    Used byThe Center Square (Right)

  • Loaded verb

    attempting to stealMore neutral: charged with attempting to intercept oral communications

    The charge the article describes is interception of oral communications, not theft of technology, so the verb asserts more than the cited charge.

    …has been arrested in an alleged corporate espionage case and is charged with attempting to steal artificial intelligence technology from a California company.

    Used byThe Center Square (Right)

  • Sensational language

    AI espionage caseMore neutral: AI recording case

    The charge described in the article is using a device to intercept oral communications, and the other outlets do not call the case espionage.

    Saudi national arrested in alleged AI espionage case

    Used byThe Center Square (Right)

  • Loaded verb

    Spy on Top ExecutivesMore neutral: placed a recording device in its executive conference room

    The headline states a motive as fact, although the excerpt attributes only the charge of intercepting communications to the Justice Department.

    FBI Says Saudi OpenAI Employee Bugged Company to Spy on Top Executives

    Used byThe Western Journal (Far Right)

  • Loaded verb

    nabbedMore neutral: arrested

    The word is informal and casts the arrest as a dramatic capture rather than a plain arrest.

    Abdulrahman Alfozan was nabbed by the FBI only three days before his one-way flight to Saudi Arabia was set to take…

    Used byNew York Post (Right)

  • Loaded verb

    gushedMore neutral: spoke enthusiastically

    The word adds an emotional tone to Alfozan’s podcast remarks, which the excerpt describes in the outlet’s own voice.

    …national, said he helped advise Saudi Arabia government agencies on technology and gushed in a recent podcast interview about meeting Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, then the…

    Used byNew York Post (Right)

  • Delegitimizing label

    so-calledMore neutral: (omit)

    Sneer quotes in word form.

    The possibility of so-called “honey pot” schemes are just one of several scenarios that OpenAI has used to put…

    Used byNew York Post (Right)

  • Sensational language

    brutally mocksMore neutral: mocks

    The word ‘brutally’ adds emotional force that the reported internet reaction does not require.

    Internet brutally mocks Saudi OpenAI ‘spy’ over startled-looking surveillance photo

    Used byNew York Post (Right)

See the full language guide

See for yourself

Side by side

What each side leads with and what it leaves out. Open a side to read its headlines.

From the left

4 outlets

Leads with

  • OpenAI’s account of the device
  • the accusation as attributed
  • the FBI arrest
See the 4 headlines from the leftHide the headlines

From the center

9 outlets

Leads with

  • the US charge
  • OpenAI’s description of the device
  • the arrest by the FBI
See the 9 headlines from the centerHide the headlines

From the right

11 outlets · 2 opinion

Leads with

  • the arrest and charge stated as fact
  • the device as an espionage plot
  • the suspect’s photo and online mockery
See the 14 headlines from the rightHide the headlines

Articles you open from here build My Mix, a private picture of how your reading spreads across the spectrum, kept on this device. What is My Mix?

The left is Far Left and Left together. The right is Right and Far Right together. Every outlet keeps its own five-point rating.

Who reported it when

How the coverage built up

  • Left

    1 day 3 hr later

    Its first report, Oct 13, 4:11 PM EDT

  • Center

    First to report

    Sky News, Oct 12, 12:56 PM EDT

  • Right

    1 day 3 hr later

    Its first report, Oct 13, 4:46 PM EDT

See the order the outlets reported inHide the order
  1. Sky NewsCenterOct 12, 12:56 PM EDT
  2. Business InsiderLeftOct 13, 4:11 PM EDT
  3. New York PostRightOct 13, 4:46 PM EDT
  4. Financial TimesCenterOct 13, 4:54 PM EDT
  5. CNBCCenterOct 13, 5:08 PM EDT
  6. Deutsche WelleCenterOct 13, 5:24 PM EDT
  7. CBS NewsLeftOct 13, 5:36 PM EDT
  8. BBC NewsCenterOct 13, 5:42 PM EDT
  9. The HillCenterOct 13, 5:51 PM EDT
  10. The New York TimesLeftOct 13, 6:45 PM EDT
  11. NewsweekCenterOct 13, 7:29 PM EDT
  12. Washington ExaminerRightOct 13, 7:43 PM EDT
  13. France 24CenterOct 13, 7:49 PM EDT
  14. Al Jazeera EnglishLeftOct 13, 7:55 PM EDT
  15. Daily MailRightOct 13, 8:13 PM EDT
  16. The Epoch TimesFar RightOct 13, 8:22 PM EDT
  17. The Washington TimesRightOct 14, 7:01 AM EDT
  18. SemaforCenterOct 14, 8:03 AM EDT
  19. The Daily CallerFar RightOct 14, 11:36 AM EDT
  20. Breitbart NewsFar RightOct 14, 12:08 PM EDT
  21. The Center SquareRightOct 14, 7:20 PM EDT
  22. The Western JournalFar RightOct 14, 7:43 PM EDT
  23. Fox NewsFar RightOct 15, 6:15 PM EDT

Times are the ones the outlets published in their own feeds, in Eastern time. Opinion is left out. Just the News gave only a date, so it is not placed.

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