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

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A former OpenAI engineer has been charged with secretly putting a recording device in a conference room to collect company information. Federal prosecutors said in new court papers that Abdulrahman Alfozan was only days away from leaving for Saudi Arabia when he was arrested last week.

Alfozan's wife and young son also left the United States the day after the 35-year-old Saudi national was arrested, prosecutors said. They traveled on a one-way ticket that a Saudi military official had booked and paid for. Prosecutors made these claims in a court filing on Sunday as they asked a judge to keep Alfozan in custody.

Prosecutors said Alfozan had little reason to stay in the United States and face the case. They said he had plenty of money, including large payments from about 10 years of working in the San Francisco Bay Area's technology industry and at least two bank accounts in Saudi Arabia. They also said he appeared to have strong support from a foreign government.

A federal judge in San Francisco sided with prosecutors on Monday and denied a request from Alfozan's lawyers to let him go home while awaiting trial. His next court date is Nov. 2.

Alfozan's lawyer, William Pernik, argued in court that his client had strong ties to the United States and was only weeks away from reaching his goal of becoming a U.S. citizen. Alfozan has been a lawful permanent resident since 2010, his lawyers said in court papers. He has also lived in the United States for 15 years and attended MIT and the University of California, Berkeley, they said.

Pernik said Alfozan was willing to give up almost all his property to pay for his release. He said Alfozan had about $10 million in a U.S. investment account and was ready to use it to cover his bail.

“Everything this man has, he's willing to surrender,” Pernik said. He added that Alfozan's wife was also willing to return to the United States. She still has a visitor visa that expires in 2027.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Alex Tse questioned whether the Saudi government would simply repay Alfozan if he fled and gave up his bail money.

After the hearing, Pernik said he was disappointed with the ruling but declined to comment further.

Pernik had argued in court papers that Alfozan bought one-way tickets for his family to travel to Saudi Arabia more than two weeks before prosecutors said the recording devices were installed. He said the couple planned to spend about two months in Saudi Arabia on parental leave after the birth of their U.S.-citizen son.

But prosecutors said Saudi officials bought new plane tickets for Alfozan's wife and son after his arrest, allowing them to leave the United States sooner than the Oct. 12 flight Alfozan had first booked.

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. They also said the royal family member repeatedly tried to recruit Alfozan for an artificial intelligence company being started in Saudi Arabia.

Prosecutors said Alfozan had told the unnamed person he would not leave OpenAI until his stock had vested, even as he looked into other job opportunities in the Middle Eastern kingdom. They wrote that he had worked at AI startup maker Thinking Machines Lab since July 2025 but was fired after his arrest.

Prosecutors said Alfozan hid an audio recording device inside tissue 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 said security cameras recorded him entering the room and checking behind the television after installing the device. It remained there for several days before it was found on Sept. 30.

Prosecutors said the conference room was regularly used for meetings involving company leaders, government officials and other executives. These meetings included discussions of highly secret technical, business and strategic information, such as research owned by the company and information that had not been made public.

OpenAI said the recording device Alfozan allegedly used was advanced and designed to avoid being detected. It had strong encryption and features for monitoring audio, the company said. OpenAI also said it 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.

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