Riyadh said to offer bail for OpenAI bugging suspect

Saudi Arabia has offered to pay bail for Abdulrahman Alfozan, who is suspected of placing a listening device in OpenAI Inc.'s conference room, CNBC reported on Monday.

CNBC quoted a document sent earlier in October by Saudi Arabia's consulate in Los Angeles to Alfozan's lawyer, William Pernik. Alfozan has been identified as a Saudi Arabian citizen. An earlier announcement by the Department of Justice (DoJ) said he began working as an engineer at OpenAI in July 2025.

Earlier that day, CNBC quoted a court filing from the United States District Court for the Northern District of California. According to the filing, prosecutors claimed that Alfozan had been "in frequent communications via WhatsApp with a member of the Saudi Royal Family" in 2025 and 2026.