Arrested OpenAI engineer was in touch with a member of Saudi royal family: US prosecutors | Hindustan Times
A Saudi citizen who was arrested for placing a recording device inside an OpenAI building was in frequent contact with a member of the Saudi royal family, US prosecutors said. Abdulrahman Alfozan was arrested on October 9 after authorities found that he had hidden an encrypted recording device inside an OpenAI building in San Francisco.
He worked as an engineer at OpenAI and earned a base salary of $385,000, along with a large amount of company stock. The company fired him after his arrest.
US authorities considered the 35-year-old likely to flee and refused to release him on bail while he awaits trial.
Why the government wants him held before trial
In a court filing in California, US prosecutors said that Alfozan's wife and baby son left the US for Saudi Arabia shortly after his arrest. They flew business class on tickets paid for by a Saudi military official. His extended family lives in Saudi Arabia, and he no longer has a job or family ties in the United States.
Prosecutors also said Alfozan was arrested just days before he was due to fly to Saudi Arabia on a one-way ticket.
These factors led authorities to consider the former OpenAI engineer likely to flee.
“He has plenty of resources, including the large amount of money he earned from about ten years of work in the technology industry in the San Francisco Bay Area and at least two bank accounts in Saudi Arabia. He also appears to have strong support from a foreign government,” the court filing said.
“In the end, the defendant has little reason to stay in the United States and face this case through to its conclusion,” prosecutors argued.
Kept in touch with a Saudi royal
US prosecutors also claimed that Alfozan was in “frequent communication... with a member of the Saudi royal family.”
“Throughout 2025 and 2026, the defendant was in frequent contact through WhatsApp
with a member of the Saudi Royal Family, including as recently as October 5, 2026,” the court document stated.
The royal family member told Alfozan about an artificial intelligence project that was being launched in Saudi Arabia and repeatedly tried to persuade him to join it. The royal also asked when he planned to leave OpenAI.
In May 2026, the royal told Alfozan, “Saudi needs you more then [sic] the US!” Alfozan replied, “100,” showing that he fully agreed. When the royal asked when he would leave OpenAI, Alfozan said he would not leave until his company stock had vested, meaning he had earned the right to keep it.
The court filing did not identify the Saudi royal family member.