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

A wide-eyed surveillance photo of an OpenAI engineer accused of planting a secret recording device in the company’s offices has become an instant internet punchline — with online jokesters comparing his startled expression to a screaming goat and Gollum from “The Lord of the Rings.”Abdulrahman Alfozan, 35, was caught on camera peering behind a television in an executive conference room at OpenAI’s San Francisco offices, days after security personnel discovered a hidden listening device plugged into the TV, according to federal prosecutors.The image shows the Saudi national, who was arrested by the FBI on Oct.9, looking around the television with his eyes wide open and mouth slightly agape.Social media users wasted little time turning the photo into a barrage of memes mocking the former OpenAI engineer’s bewildered-looking expression.“It was at this moment, he knew he f–ked up,” read one meme, which featured the surveillance image with Alfozan’s face circled in red.“The face he made when the fbi knocked on his door…” X user Chet (@WeirdSciChet) quipped alongside an enlarged version of the photo.The popular X account Autism Capital posted a photo of a bug-eyed, open-mouthed goat, apparently poking fun at Alfozan’s expression.Morgan Wyatt Khan (@MorganWKhan), meanwhile, shared a GIF of the grotesque, snarling Gollum character from “The Lord of the Rings” with the caption: “His reaction to being caught…”Another X user, helix (@helixbase), posted a close-up of Alfozan’s face with the caption: “when you ask ChatGPT how to hide a bug and then ChatGPT finds it.”The joke appeared to reference allegations in the federal complaint that a ChatGPT account associated with Alfozan’s wife was used to ask questions about recording equipment, including ways to conceal and encrypt it.OpenAI has also said it used its own AI models to help investigate the device and identify the person responsible for planting it.Other users poked fun at th...