Alleged OpenAI spy frequently WhatsApp’ed Saudi royal: ‘Saudi needs you more!’

A Saudi engineer accused of trying to secretly record private OpenAI meetings often sent WhatsApp messages to a Saudi royal. The royal told him, “Saudi needs you more than [sic] the US!” according to a court filing that revealed new details about the case.

Abdulrahman Alfozan, a 35-year-old Saudi citizen who is being held by federal authorities, exchanged messages with the unnamed Saudi royal many times in 2025 and 2026. Their latest known exchange was on Oct. 5, just four days before Alfozan was arrested, federal prosecutors said in a court filing on Sunday.

The Saudi royal repeatedly tried to persuade Alfozan to join an artificial intelligence project being started in Saudi Arabia. But Alfozan “said he wouldn’t leave [OpenAI] until his stock vested,” meaning he wanted to wait until his company shares became fully his, according to the filing.

“In May 2026, the individual told the defendant, ‘Saudi needs you more than [sic] the US!’ to which the defendant responded ‘100,’ indicating he agreed,” prosecutors wrote.

Prosecutors are asking the court to keep Alfozan in custody without bail. They argue that he might flee because he has “ample resources … and what appears to be considerable support” from the Saudi government.

Alfozan was hired by OpenAI in July 2025 with a base engineering salary of $325,000, which was later raised to $385,000. He lives near San Francisco airport and is also a partner at Raed Ventures, a Saudi venture capital firm, prosecutors said.

Prince Khalid bin Bader Al Saud, a member of the Saudi royal family, joined Raed Ventures as a partner in 2025.

The court filing did not name the prince or say whether he had any connection to Alfozan. It also did not say whether the unnamed royal had told Alfozan to install recording devices in OpenAI's conference rooms in San Francisco.

According to the filing, the Saudi government booked a flight to Saudi Arabia for Alfozan, his wife and their 3-month-old son.

Alfozan's arrest disrupted those plans. His wife, Lujain Alassaf, and their baby flew to Doha, Qatar, on Oct. 10. Their business-class flight was paid for by a member of the Saudi military, prosecutors said.

“He has the connections needed not only to flee, but to build a new life in Saudi Arabia. The Court should order the defendant detained pending trial,” federal prosecutors wrote.

Alfozan's lawyer, William Pernik, filed a separate request asking the court to release him to stay at home under house arrest and GPS monitoring. The request would be “supported by the written undertaking of the Consulate General of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.”

Pernik argued that Alfozan's “nationality is not evidence of flight.” He said the planned trip to Saudi Arabia was for “family and immigration reasons.” He also said Alfozan bought a one-way ticket because he had learned that doing so was a good way to save money on flights.

If convicted, Alfozan faces up to five years in prison, a $250,000 fine and then three years of supervised release.

An OpenAI spokesperson directed The Post to an earlier company statement. It said there was no evidence that Alfozan had improperly accessed or taken the company's AI model weights, source code or customer data.

“We take protecting our technology, data, and people seriously, and as a matter of national importance,” OpenAI said in the statement. “Our security program is designed to protect against a wide range of threat actors, from insider risks to cybercriminals to nation states, and this case is an example of how AI can help address these sophisticated security threats.”

OpenAI fired Alfozan after his arrest. According to the complaint, a “surreptitious audio recording device” was found hidden at the back of a TV in a conference room. It had been wrapped in toilet paper, apparently to hide it.

Days after security staff found the device, a surveillance photo showed Alfozan looking behind the TV with wide eyes and his mouth open.

Prosecutors wrote that, around the time the device was installed, “OpenAI executives met with government officials in that very room.” They said this created a national security risk.

According to the filing, Alfozan's phone contained a deleted note from September 2026 with “links to various recording devices, including devices made by Seeed Studio.” Prosecutors said one of those devices was the same kind as the one found in the conference room.

His iPhone also contained photos showing “at least one additional concealed device as well as what appear to be the input/output panels on televisions and other electronic devices” around OpenAI buildings, the filing said.

Prosecutors said similar electronic devices were found at Alfozan's home. Another recording device was found in a bag he had left behind in a printer room.

Alfozan is a lawful permanent resident of the United States who had applied to become a US citizen. After his son was born, he planned to take two months of parental leave. But another note on his phone suggested he planned to extend his “leave to full,” according to the filing.

Before leaving the country, Alfozan's wife told FBI agents that her visa was about to expire and that she was moving permanently to Saudi Arabia with their son. She also said her husband eventually planned to do the same, according to the filing.

But Pernik, Alfozan's lawyer, argued that his client's actions were normal. He said Alfozan had spent about 15 years in the United States, worked for several companies and regularly attended friends' birthday parties and weddings. These details, he argued, were “not the profile of a person with one foot out the door.”