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 documents 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 citizen was arrested, prosecutors said. They traveled on a one-way ticket that a Saudi military official had booked and paid for, according to a court filing prosecutors submitted Sunday asking that Alfozan remain in custody.

“Ultimately, the defendant has little incentive to remain in the United States to see this case through,” federal prosecutors wrote. They said he had plenty of money, including pay from about 10 years of working in high-tech jobs in the San Francisco Bay Area and money in at least two Saudi bank accounts. They also said he appeared to have strong support from a foreign government.

A federal judge in San Francisco agreed with prosecutors on Monday and rejected Alfozan's lawyers' request to let him stay at home while awaiting trial. His next court date is in November.

Alfozan's lawyer, William Pernik, told the court that his client had strong ties to the United States and was “weeks away from achieving every immigrant’s dream” — becoming a U.S. citizen.

Alfozan had an interview with federal officials to begin the citizenship process scheduled for next month, his lawyers said in court documents. He has been a lawful permanent resident since 2020. They also said he has lived in the United States for 15 years and studied at MIT and the University of California, Berkeley.

Pernik said Alfozan was willing to offer almost all his assets as security for his release. These included about $1 million in a U.S. investment account.

“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 because she has a visitor visa that expires in 2033.

Judge Alex Tse seemed unsure. He asked whether the Saudi government might simply pay Alfozan back if he fled and lost the money he had promised as bail.

After the hearing, Pernik said he was disappointed with the decision but did not want to comment further.

In court documents, Pernik had argued that Alfozan 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.

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

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

Prosecutors wrote that Alfozan told the unnamed person he would not leave OpenAI until his company stock had vested, meaning he had earned the right to keep it. At the same time, he was looking into other jobs in Saudi Arabia. He had worked at the company that makes ChatGPT since July 2025 but was fired after his arrest.

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 he installed the device. It stayed there for several days before someone found it on Sept. 30.

Prosecutors said the conference room was usually used for meetings with company leaders, government officials and other executives. These meetings included talks about highly secret technical, business and planning matters, including company research and information that had not been made public.

OpenAI said the recording device Alfozan allegedly used was advanced and designed to avoid being found. The company said it had strong encryption and features for monitoring 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 face five years in prison.

Marcelo reported from New York.

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