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A former OpenAI engineer accused of secretly planting listening devices inside the artificial intelligence giant’s facilities was communicating with Saudi royalty and searching company records involving the Kingdom before his arrest, according to federal prosecutors who are investigating whether his alleged surveillance was intended to benefit a foreign government.
In a detention filing Sunday, prosecutors revealed that Saudi government officials helped arrange international travel for Abdulrahman Alfozan’s wife and three-month-old son shortly after his arrest.
They also raised concerns about Alfozan’s potential access to foreign government assistance if released.
Prosecutors disclosed that Alfozan had been in frequent contact with a member of the Saudi royal family who sought to recruit him for a Saudi artificial intelligence initiative. The filing does not allege that Saudi Arabia directed his alleged surveillance.
A man described as Abdulrahman Alfozan, a Saudi national formerly employed as an OpenAI engineer, looks behind a television where a recording device had been placed at a conference room in OpenAI offices, in a still image from surveillance video. (Reuters)
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The investigation remains ongoing and “may result in additional serious charges,” prosecutors said. Investigators are examining whether Alfozan sought to record sensitive OpenAI meetings to advance his own business interests, aid a foreign government or both.
According to the filing, Alfozan spent weeks researching how to construct an encrypted recording device with live-listening capabilities and where inside OpenAI he could capture sensitive conversations.
He allegedly used an internal OpenAI tool to identify meeting rooms used by company executives and outside partners before concealing a customized audio recorder behind a television in an executive conference room in late September.
The room regularly hosted leadership meetings, technical and product discussions, and briefings with government officials and business partners. Conversations frequently involved proprietary research, OpenAI’s technical capabilities, strategic decisions, government engagements and commercial relationships, according to prosecutors.
Government officials met with OpenAI executives in the room around the time of the alleged surveillance, prosecutors said, warning that Alfozan’s conduct “could pose a danger to the national security of the United States.”
Investigators also uncovered evidence suggesting his alleged surveillance extended beyond a single device.
OpenAI security personnel discovered a second similar recorder inside a bag Alfozan left in a printer room. Searches of his home and electronic devices subsequently uncovered similar components and photographs that appeared to show reconnaissance of other locations inside OpenAI, including another conference room used for sensitive meetings.
President Donald Trump and Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia pause for photographs along the West Wing Colonnade at the White House on Nov. 18, 2025, in Washington, D.C. (Getty Images)
Investigators say Alfozan was also showing particular interest in OpenAI’s dealings with Saudi Arabia.
His browsing history showed that he accessed a folder titled “Saudi Gov Docs” on Oct. 4, 2026, and used an internal OpenAI tool to search for engagements involving Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Communications and Information Technology.
Among the subjects he searched were planned OpenAI visits to Saudi Arabia, an upcoming visit by the Saudi ministry and a meeting labeled “HUMAIN x MCIT @OpenAI,” according to prosecutors.
At the same time, Alfozan maintained frequent contact with an unidentified member of the Saudi royal family, including just four days before his arrest.
“Saudi needs you more then [sic] the US!” the royal told Alfozan in May, according to the filing. Alfozan responded “100,” which prosecutors interpreted as agreement.
The royal repeatedly tried to recruit Alfozan for an artificial intelligence initiative in Saudi Arabia and asked when he planned to leave OpenAI. Alfozan said he would not leave until his stock vested, according to prosecutors. He was also allegedly pursuing other opportunities in Saudi Arabia, including applying to the Mohammed bin Salman Foundation’s “2030 Leaders” program.
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The Saudi connections have become a focus of prosecutors’ argument that Alfozan poses a serious flight risk.
At the time of his arrest, Alfozan had one-way tickets from San Francisco to Riyadh for Oct. 12, 2026, and was scheduled to begin two months of parental leave from OpenAI. The FBI arrested him Oct. 9, 2026.
The accused’s wife and infant son initially had a one-way flight to Saudi Arabia booked and paid for by the Saudi government, prosecutors said. Then a Saudi military official purchased business-class tickets for the pair en route to Qatar. They departed San Francisco roughly 36 hours after Alfozan’s arrest.
Prosecutors cited the travel arrangements as evidence that Alfozan could receive substantial assistance from the Saudi government if released.
Digital has reached out to the Saudi Embassy, OpenAI and Alfozan’s attorney for comment.
Man accused of attempting to ‘bug’ OpenAI offices had ties to Saudi government, prosecutors say. (Kenneth Cheung/Getty Images)
The government also pointed to a previous federal case in which prosecutors alleged that a former Twitter employee received Saudi assistance leaving the United States after being confronted over his access to internal user data.
After Twitter confronted employee Ali Alzabarah in 2015, prosecutors alleged, calls were exchanged with a Saudi foreign official and the Saudi consul general in Los Angeles to coordinate a flight to Saudi Arabia the following day.
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Alzabarah later went to work for the Misk Foundation, according to the filing. Charges against him remain pending.
Prosecutors argued that Alfozan similarly has access to “considerable support from a foreign government” with no extradition treaty with the United States and the resources to provide extraordinary travel assistance.
Alfozan, a legal permanent resident, was earning $385,000 annually at OpenAI and had received a $2.2 million equity grant, according to prosecutors. OpenAI fired him following his arrest.
He is charged with using or attempting to use a device to intercept oral communications. Prosecutors are asking a federal judge to keep him behind bars pending trial, arguing that he poses a serious flight risk and an ongoing danger to the community.
