Ex-OpenAI worker had Saudi support, US prosecutors allege

US prosecutors have alleged that a former OpenAI engineer accused of secretly installing a recording device in a company meeting room received substantial Saudi government support, citing the claim in their request to keep him in custody before trial. According to BBC News, a California court filing describes contacts with a Saudi royal and travel paid for by a Saudi military official.

Abdulrahman Alfozan, a 35-year-old Saudi national, is scheduled to appear in federal court in San Francisco on Monday, 19 October. Prosecutors argue that he poses a flight risk. Their allegations about government support and the recording device have not been established at trial.

The Saudi government had not immediately responded to the outlet’s request for comment. The report does not include a response from Alfozan or his legal representatives.

Recording device found behind meeting-room television

Alfozan had worked at OpenAI for roughly a year before the alleged incident. The company discovered an audio recorder on 30 September, plugged into the rear of a television in a conference room and concealed with toilet paper.

A camera was subsequently installed in the room. On 5 October, it recorded Alfozan entering and apparently checking behind the television where the recorder had been placed. The FBI arrested him on 9 October, and OpenAI ended his contract.

The filing argues that the alleged conduct could threaten US national security because company executives met government officials in that room during the period when investigators believe the recorder was installed. That is the prosecution’s assessment of the potential risk, not a finding that government information was captured or disclosed.

Travel arrangements central to detention request

Prosecutors allege that Alfozan communicated frequently with a member of the Saudi royal family. They also point to arrangements for his family’s departure from the United States as grounds for keeping him detained.

His arrest took place three days before he was due to leave San Francisco for Riyadh on a one-way itinerary with his wife and son, according to the filing. It says his wife told FBI agents that her US visa was nearing expiry, that she and their son were moving permanently to Saudi Arabia, and that her husband intended to relocate there too.

On 10 October, the day after the arrest, his wife and son flew from San Francisco to Doha, Qatar. The filing alleges that a Saudi military official booked and paid for their one-way business-class travel.

Those contacts and travel arrangements form the prosecution’s stated basis for alleging Saudi support and a risk of flight. They do not, by themselves, establish that the Saudi government directed the alleged recording attempt.

If convicted, Alfozan faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison and a fine of $250,000. The report gives no outcome for Monday’s scheduled court appearance.