An accused OpenAI spy got help from a member of the Saudi army in trying to ship his household back to the kingdom just before his arrest for allegedly bugging the company’s convention rooms, according to federal prosecutors.Ex-OpenAI engineer Abdulrahman Alfozan, 35, was in common contact with a member of the Saudi royal household — and acquired support from authorities officers as he allegedly hatched a scheme to report high-level conferences at the main AI firm, prosecutors claimed in a court submitting unsealed Sunday night.
X/@alfozan
“The defendant went to significant lengths to create customized, encrypted recording devices to secretly record highly sensitive meetings involving senior OpenAI personnel and executives, high-level business counterparts, and government officials, all while communicating with individuals of significance in Saudi Arabia and pursuing opportunities in — and making plans to travel to — Saudi Arabia,” US attorneys wrote in a submitting searching for Alfozan’s detention.
A Saudi army official bought a one-way, business class ticket for Alfozan’s spouse and son, who had deliberate to transfer back to Saudi Arabia with Alfozan becoming a member of them at a later date, according to prosecutors.
Alfozan’s spouse and son left the nation 36 hours after his arrest, they said.
“He had intended to fly from San Francisco to Riyadh (via Istanbul) with his wife and son on a one-way ticket on October 12, 2026. Having been arrested by the FBI three days prior, the defendant
did not make that flight,” the submitting learn.
Prosecutors say Alfozan’s alleged close ties to Saudi officers didn’t stop there.
H.H. Prince Khalid Bin Bader Al Saud is pictured in an undated photograph. LinkedIn/khalid-bin-bader-al-saud-9099011b6
A person described as Abdulrahman Alfozan, a Saudi national employed as an OpenAI engineer, appears to be like behind a tv where a recording system had been positioned in a convention room at OpenAI workplaces in San Francisco, in a still image from surveillance video included in a charging doc, Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2026. via REUTERS
The facade of OpenAI workplaces is pictured in Mission Bay, San Francisco, California, Dec. 11, 2025. Gado via Getty Images
A Saudi royal tried to recruit Alfozan for an AI-related place, according to a textual content message cited by prosecutors.
“Saudi needs you more then the US!” the royal allegedly wrote, to which Alfozan reportedly replied: “100.”
The San Francisco engineer, who was fired from OpenAI, is scheduled to seem in court Monday.
In addition to his OpenAI position, Alfozan was listed as a enterprise companion at RAED Ventures in Riyadh alongside Prince Khalid bin Bader Al Saud, a member of the Saudi royal household.
Abdulrahman Alfozan, an worker of OpenAI, poses for a photograph. Instagram/alfozan
The officers who were allegedly in contact with Alfozan and his household were not named.
After getting technical levels from UC Berkeley and MIT, Alfozan spent a decade working in Silicon Valley and joined OpenAI last yr —incomes a hefty wage of $385,000 plus a new rent equity grant of $2,200,000 in revenue participation models, per court docs.
Alfozan was accused on Oct. 9 of planting a tiny recording system in govt convention rooms at OpenAI’s San Francisco headquarters — wrapping the system in toilet paper and stuffing it in a USB port on the back of a TV in a convention room.
The press workplace of the Saudi authorities did not immediately reply to a request for remark.
Download The California Post App, comply with us on social, and subscribe to our newsletters
California Post News: Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, X, YouTube, WhatsApp, LinkedIn
California Post Sports Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, X
California Post Opinion
California Post Newsletters: Sign up here!
California Post App: Download here!
Home supply: Sign up here!
Page Six Hollywood: Sign up here!
Source hyperlink
