Ex-OpenAI engineer accused of planting recording device had Saudi government support, prosecutors say
Abdulrahman Alfozan, 35, was denied bail after US prosecutors said he was in frequent contact with a member of the Saudi royal family and that a Saudi military official paid for his family's one-way flights out of the US.
A Saudi national charged with secretly planting a recording device in one of OpenAI's meeting rooms had "considerable support" from the Saudi government, US prosecutors claim in a court filing in California. They allege that Abdulrahman Alfozan, a 35-year-old engineer who had worked for the AI company for about a year, was in "frequent communication" with a member of the Saudi royal family. On Monday he was deemed a flight risk and denied bail pending trial. The Saudi government did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
According to the filing, OpenAI discovered the audio recorder on 30 September, plugged into the back of a television in a conference room and hidden under toilet paper. A camera was installed in the room, and on 5 October Alfozan was filmed entering and appearing to check behind the television. The FBI arrested him on 9 October and OpenAI terminated his contract. Prosecutors argue the alleged conduct could endanger US national security, because company executives met government officials in that room while the device was believed to be in place.
Alfozan was arrested three days before he was due to fly from San Francisco to Riyadh on a one-way itinerary with his wife and son. On 10 October, the day after his arrest, his wife and son flew from San Francisco to Doha on one-way business-class tickets that, according to prosecutors, were booked and paid for by a Saudi military official. His wife told FBI agents her US visa was expiring and the family was moving back to Saudi Arabia permanently. Source: BBC News (with CNBC)