US federal prosecutors allege the defendant was in frequent contact with unnamed member of royal household.
Printed On 19 Oct 2026
An ex-OpenAI engineer accused of planting a recording device in an government convention room on the AI firm seems to have acquired appreciable help from the Saudi authorities, United States prosecutors have stated in a court docket submitting.
Federal prosecutors allege that the defendant, Abdulrahman Alfozan, 35, was in frequent communication with an unnamed member of the Saudi royal household and {that a} Saudi army official paid for a one-way aircraft ticket for Alfozan’s spouse and younger son to return to Saudi Arabia after his arrest, in accordance with the court docket doc, made public late on Sunday.
Advisable Tales
checklist of 4 gadgetsfinish of checklist
Prosecutors made these allegations as they requested a federal decide to maintain Alfozan in US custody to await trial, arguing he’s a flight threat. Alfozan, a Saudi nationwide and lawful everlasting resident within the US, is scheduled to look in federal court docket in San Francisco afterward Monday.
The case has highlighted safety challenges round delicate AI analysis as firms and governments compete fiercely for an edge within the transformational know-how.
“The defendant went to important lengths to create custom-made, encrypted recording gadgets to secretly document extremely delicate conferences involving senior OpenAI personnel and executives, high-level enterprise counterparts, and authorities officers, all whereas speaking with people of significance in Saudi Arabia and pursuing alternatives in — and planning to journey to — Saudi Arabia,” prosecutors wrote in a detention memo.
The Saudi authorities media workplace didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark. A lawyer for Alfozan didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.
The lawyer, William Pernik, beforehand requested for Alfozan to be launched from custody, topic to circumstances together with location monitoring and surrendering his passport, and stated Alfozan had spent the final 15 years within the US and had utilized to change into a citizen.
The lawyer stated a deliberate journey by Alfozan to Saudi Arabia this month was booked earlier than he was beneath investigation and was for “household and immigration causes”, in accordance with a court docket submitting.
Investigation stays lively
US prosecutors charged Alfozan final week with utilizing an digital system to intercept oral communications. Alfozan plugged a recording system into the again of a tv in an government convention room at one in every of OpenAI’s San Francisco buildings, in accordance with a legal criticism.
Conferences involving authorities officers happened within the convention room across the time the system was put in, in accordance with the prosecutors’ detention memo.
Prosecutors stated the investigation stays lively and extra costs might be introduced towards Alfozan.
A member of the Saudi royal household sought to recruit Alfozan for an AI-focused function in Saudi Arabia, writing in a single message, “Saudi wants you extra then [sic] the US!” Alfozan replied, “100,” in accordance with messages cited by prosecutors.
Earlier than his arrest, Alfozan was scheduled to fly to Riyadh throughout a deliberate two-month parental go away. His spouse instructed investigators that she and their son deliberate to maneuver completely to Saudi Arabia and that Alfozan finally meant to hitch them, in accordance with prosecutors.
In an Arabic-language interview on the Id Capital podcast final month, Alfozan stated that he visits Saudi Arabia three or 4 instances a 12 months, follows developments there and advises or mentors Saudi startups.
He stated assembly Prince Mohammed bin Salman, then deputy crown prince, throughout a 2016 gathering with younger Saudi tech employees in Silicon Valley persuaded him to study at a high tech firm earlier than bringing these expertise again house.
Whereas Alfozan was working at Fb, he and different Saudis in Silicon Valley fashioned a consulting initiative that linked Saudi public- and private-sector organisations with experience in large knowledge, the web of issues and machine studying.
OpenAI beforehand stated it found the system on September 30 and referred the matter to the FBI.
Al Jazeera has reached out to the Saudi embassy for remark.
