DOJ/Reuters
- Prosecutors say an ex-OpenAI employee accused of planting a recording device appears to have received support from the Saudi government.
- A federal magistrate judge will hear arguments on Monday on whether Abdulrahman Alfozan should remain in custody.
- Prosecutors said that Alfozan frequently communicated with a member of the Saudi Royal Family.
Federal prosecutors say that a former OpenAI employee accused of planting a recording device received "what appears to be considerable support from" the Saudi government.
Prosecutors made the disclosure in a motion to keep Abdulrahman Alfozan, a Saudi national and former OpenAI employee, in custody pending trial.
Alfozan had been in contact as recently as October 5 with an unnamed member of the Saudi Royal Family, whom he frequently communicated with on WhatsApp over the last two years, prosecutors said.
"In May 2026, the individual told the defendant, 'Saudi needs you more then [sic] the US!' to which the defendant responded '100,"' indicating he agreed," prosecutors wrote.
The FBI arrested Alfozan on October 9. According to a criminal complaint, Alfozan planted a recording device in the back of a TV in an OpenAI conference room where sensitive discussions take place. OpenAI's security cameras caught Alfozan near the conference room on multiple occasions, despite his lack of authorization to the high-level meetings held there, prosecutors said.
"In the days surrounding the time period that the device was installed, OpenAI executives met with government officials in that very room," prosecutors wrote in a filing on Sunday. "Defendant's conduct could pose a danger to the national security of the United States."
The complaint included a photo of what prosecutors said was Alfozan peering behind the TV where the recording device was found.
In addition to his WhatsApp messaging, prosecutors wrote that an unnamed member of the Saudi military booked a flight for Alfozan's wife and son on October 11, despite an existing reservation for an October 12 flight, which prosecutors said was "paid for by the Saudi government."
In a separate filing, William Pernik, Alfozan's attorney, said that the former OpenAI engineer did not pose a flight risk.
"Mr. Alfozan was made aware of OpenAI finding the device per its own filings and OpenAI's public statements, approximately eight to ten days before he was arrested," Pernik wrote. "If his intention was to flee, he would have done so at that time."
Pernik said that prosecutors' previous disclosure that Alfozan had purchased a one-way ticket to Saudi Arabia lacked context.
"Seventy percent of the airline bookings in his email since January 2021 (96 of 138) were one-way tickets," Pernik wrote.
Pernik said that in order to secure his release, Alfozan would agree to GPS monitoring and home detention, surrender his passports, and agree not to travel outside Northern California, accept a bond "co-signed by members of his Bay Area community and backed by the written undertaking of the Consulate General of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia."
US Magistrate Judge Alex G. Tse is set to hear arguments later Monday on whether Alfozan should remain in custody.