Prosecutors Say OpenAI Bugging Suspect Was in Frequent Contact With Saudi Royal

Prosecutors say Abdulrahman Alfozan, an OpenAI engineer accused of secretly putting a listening device in a room where company leaders held meetings, often exchanged WhatsApp messages with a Saudi royal in 2025 and 2026. They made this claim in a court filing on Sunday, according to CNBC.

The last message exchange took place on Oct. 5, four days before Alfozan was arrested. Prosecutors did not name the royal or explain how Alfozan, who is 35, met him or her. In their court filing, they asked a judge to keep Alfozan in jail without allowing bail. He was due to appear in San Francisco's U.S. District Court on Monday morning.

Prosecutors said the royal told Alfozan about a new Saudi AI program and wanted him to join it. In May 2026, the royal wrote, "Saudi needs you more then [sic] the U.S.!" Alfozan replied, "100," according to the court filing. The royal repeatedly urged him to join the program and asked when he planned to leave OpenAI. Alfozan said he would stay until his company stock had fully vested, meaning he had earned the right to keep it.

The court filing does not claim that the royal told Alfozan to put a listening device at OpenAI or take company information.

Prosecutors said Alfozan might try to flee. They pointed to what they called "considerable support from a foreign government" that has no agreement with the United States to send people back to face legal cases there, according to CNBC. The filing said the Saudi government and a member of the Saudi military separately arranged flights out of the United States for Alfozan's wife, Lujain Alassaf, and their three-month-old son. This happened after Alfozan's arrest disrupted a family trip to Saudi Arabia that had been planned for Oct. 12. According to the filing, his wife and son left San Francisco on Oct. 10 and flew to Doha, Qatar. The military member paid for their business-class ticket.

Alfozan's lawyer, William Pernik, filed a separate request asking the court to release him under strict conditions. These included staying at home, wearing a GPS tracker and having someone co-sign a bond. Pernik wrote that "nationality is not evidence of flight" and said the planned trip was for "family and immigration reasons." He also said the Saudi Consulate General had told U.S. Pretrial Services in writing that it "will not issue any travel documents" to Alfozan while he was released.

Alfozan was arrested on Oct. 9 and charged with using, or trying to use, a device to secretly listen to spoken conversations. If found guilty, he could face up to five years in prison. OpenAI fired him after his arrest.

In an earlier court filing, prosecutors had said Alfozan had a one-way ticket to Saudi Arabia for Oct. 12, three days after his arrest. Prosecutors said he placed the device in a USB port behind a television in the meeting room on or around Sept. 28. People used the room to discuss sensitive technical plans and company strategy. The filing said OpenAI leaders also met with government officials in that room around the same time.

Alfozan works as a venture partner at Raed Ventures, a Saudi Arabian investment firm that supports new businesses. According to CNBC, Prince Khalid bin Bader Al Saud, a member of the Saudi royal family, became a venture partner at the firm in 2025. Prosecutors did not name the royal who exchanged messages with Alfozan or say whether that person had any connection to Raed Ventures.

The Saudi embassy in Washington did not respond to CNBC’s request for comment.