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

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A former OpenAI engineer accused of secretly putting a recording device in a conference room to collect company information was only days away from leaving for Saudi Arabia when he was arrested, federal prosecutors said 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.

“Ultimately, the defendant has little incentive to remain in the United States to see this case through,” federal prosecutors wrote. “He has ample resources — including his significant compensation from a decade of high-tech employment in the Bay Area and at least two bank accounts in Saudi Arabia — and what appears to be considerable support from a foreign government.”

Prosecutors also pointed out that Saudi Arabia has no agreement with the United States requiring it to send people accused of crimes back to face trial. They are asking the court to keep Alfozan in custody until his trial. A judge is expected to consider the 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, his lawyers said Alfozan, who had worked at OpenAI since July 2025, bought one-way tickets for his family to travel to Saudi Arabia more than two weeks before prosecutors say the recording devices were installed. The lawyers said the couple planned to spend about two months in Saudi Arabia during Alfozan’s paternity 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 earlier than planned. Alfozan had originally booked their flight for Oct. 12.

Alfozan’s lawyers also said he was on track to become a U.S. citizen and had 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 15 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, his career, and his community are.”

Instead of keeping Alfozan in federal custody, his lawyers say he should be allowed to stay inside his family’s home in the San Francisco suburbs. They suggest using GPS monitoring, limiting his travel and requiring him to hand over his passport.

Prosecutors have not said what Alfozan may have planned to do with the recordings. But they say he was in frequent contact with a member of the Saudi royal family. According to prosecutors, this person repeatedly tried to persuade Alfozan to join a new artificial intelligence business being started in Saudi Arabia.

In WhatsApp messages, Alfozan told the unnamed person that he would not leave OpenAI until his company stock had fully vested, prosecutors wrote. At the same time, he was looking into other job opportunities in Saudi Arabia.

Prosecutors say 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 he was not allowed to enter. They say security cameras recorded him going into the room and checking behind the television after placing the device. The device stayed there for several days before someone found it on Sept. 30.

Prosecutors said company leaders, government officials and other executives usually met in the conference room. They said these meetings included discussions about highly secret technical, business and planning information, including company-owned research and information that had not been made public.

OpenAI has said the recording device Alfozan allegedly used was advanced and designed to avoid being found. The company said it had strong encryption and could record and monitor sound. OpenAI also said it had evidence that Alfozan planned to put other listening devices in different parts of the office.

Alfozan has been charged with using or trying to use an electronic, mechanical or other device to secretly capture spoken conversations. If found guilty, he could be sentenced to five years in prison.

Marcelo reported from New York.