Ex-OpenAI worker accused of bugging conference room planned to fly to Saudi Arabia, prosecutors say

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Federal prosecutors say a former OpenAI engineer who is charged with secretly placing a recording device in a conference room to collect company information was only "mere days" away from leaving for Saudi Arabia before he was arrested. Prosecutors made this claim in new court documents.

Abdulrahman Alfozan, a 35-year-old Saudi citizen, was also fired from his job at the company that makes ChatGPT, according to a government document filed Sunday. Prosecutors said his wife and young son left the United States the day after his arrest. A Saudi military official had booked and paid for their one-way tickets, according to the filing.

“The defendant has little reason to stay in the United States to face this case,” federal prosecutors wrote. They said he has plenty of money, including significant pay earned during a decade working in the San Francisco Bay Area and at least two bank accounts in Saudi Arabia. Prosecutors also said he appears to have considerable support from a foreign government.

Prosecutors also noted that Saudi Arabia has no extradition treaty with the United States. They are seeking to keep Alfozan in custody until his trial. A judge will consider their request Monday in federal court in San Francisco.

Alfozan's lawyers did not immediately respond to an email asking for comment before Monday's hearing.

In their own court documents, Alfozan's lawyers argued that he had bought one-way tickets for his family to Saudi Arabia more than two weeks before prosecutors said the recording devices were installed. They said the couple planned to spend about two months in Saudi Arabia on parental leave after the birth of their son, who is a U.S. citizen.

Prosecutors said Saudi officials bought new plane tickets for Alfozan's wife and son after his arrest so they could leave the United States sooner than the Oct. 20 flight Alfozan had first booked.

Alfozan's lawyers also argued that he was on track to become a U.S. citizen through naturalization, with an interview with federal officials scheduled for next month. They said he has been a lawful permanent resident since 2020, has lived in the United States for 14 years, and attended MIT and the University of California, Berkeley.

“This was a long-held dream for the Alfozan family, as it is for so many immigrants,” his lawyers wrote. “His plan was always to return to the Bay Area, where his home, career and community are.”

Rather than keeping Alfozan in federal custody, his lawyers say he should be allowed to stay at his family's home in the San Francisco suburbs under electronic monitoring by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, travel restrictions and a requirement to hand over his passport.

Prosecutors have not said what Alfozan may have wanted to do with the recordings. But they said he was in frequent contact with a member of the Saudi royal family. Prosecutors said the royal family member repeatedly tried to recruit Alfozan for a fake intelligence company being set up in Saudi Arabia.

Prosecutors wrote that Alfozan told the unnamed person in WhatsApp messages that he would not leave OpenAI until his stock had vested, even as he looked into other job opportunities in Middle Eastern kingdoms.

Prosecutors said Alfozan hid an audio recording device inside toilet paper and plugged it into a USB port on the back of a television in an executive conference room that he was not allowed to enter. Security cameras recorded him entering the room and checking behind the television after he installed the device. It remained there for several days before it was found on Sept. 24.

Prosecutors said the conference room was commonly used for meetings involving company leaders, government officials and other executives. These meetings included discussions about highly confidential technical, business and strategic information, including private research and other information not available to the public.

OpenAI has said the recording device Alfozan allegedly used was advanced. It was designed to avoid detection and had strong encryption and audio-monitoring features. Prosecutors also said they had evidence that Alfozan planned to place other listening devices elsewhere in the office.

Alfozan has been charged with using or trying to use an electronic, mechanical or other device to secretly listen to private conversations. If convicted, he faces up to five years in prison.

Marcelo reported from New York.

Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.