On Wednesday, October 14th, federal prosecutors in the United States announced that Abdulrahman Alfozan, a Saudi national accused of secretly installing recording devices in the executive conference room of OpenAI, had booked a one-way ticket to Saudi Arabia from San Francisco with his wife and another family member. The scheduled departure date was October 12th.
According to documents filed by the San Francisco federal prosecutor’s office on October 8th, the 35-year-old Alfozan had “motive” to flee the United States upon learning of the case, leading to a request to seal the criminal complaint and arrest warrant against him to prevent public disclosure. The judge approved the sealing request, and Alfozan was arrested by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) on October 9th.
Alfozan is currently charged with “using or endeavoring to use an electronic, mechanical, or other device to intercept oral communications,” a charge that carries a maximum penalty of 5 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. However, he has not been charged with corporate espionage or stealing trade secrets.
Prior reports from OpenAI stated that a hidden audio recording device was found in an executive conference room at their San Francisco headquarters. The device, which was inserted into a USB port on the back of a television and concealed in tissue paper, was installed around September 28th and its contents were encrypted.
After discovering the covert recording device in the TV, OpenAI installed surveillance cameras in the conference room. CCTV footage on October 5th around 1:20 PM captured Alfozan entering the room and “checking the back of the television set where the number 1 recording device was inserted.” Security personnel also found a second similar recording device in a bag he left behind, along with his wallet and identification.
CCTV footage revealed that Alfozan had been seen near the executive conference room multiple times before the discovery of the device. The room is frequently used to discuss highly sensitive technical, business, and strategic information.
FBI Director Kash Patel stated that Alfozan was suspected of “secretly concealing a recording device inside his employer’s executive conference room to clandestinely steal sensitive communications regarding the company’s Superintelligence (SI) technology.”
According to the FBI indictment, Alfozan also utilized an AI productivity agent to access the conference room’s schedule and availability approximately a month prior to September 16th. He has been a lawful permanent resident of the United States since September 2020.
OpenAI declined to comment on whether they were aware that Alfozan was also employed by a Saudi agency, citing operational security reasons that prevent the disclosure of more details about the involved conference room.
In a post on X platform on Tuesday, the company stated, “We have not found any evidence that the employee in question improperly accessed or leaked AI model weights, source code, or customer data. The employee has been terminated.”
The post further emphasized, “We prioritize the protection of our technology, data, and personnel as a national-level priority. Our security measures aim to counter threats from various sources, from internal risks to cybercriminals and even national-level threats.”
At present, Alfozan is in detention awaiting a detention hearing on October 19th, where his criminal defense attorney may seek bail pending trial.
William Pernik, Alfozan’s lawyer, told CNBC, “Information is extremely limited at the moment as the indictment documents were only unsealed yesterday.”
Pernik also informed Al Jazeera that he and the client plan to defend against the criminal charges and continued detention in court. He stated, “Despite the current media portrayal, we believe the U.S. justice system will treat the client fairly.”
Pernik added, “Alfozan is presumed innocent and entitled to fair treatment and due process. We will vigorously refute the emphasis on his nationality and implications of lack of integrity or flight risk.”
Alfozan joined OpenAI in July 2025, serving in engineering-related roles until his termination last week, a tenure of approximately 15 months. According to his LinkedIn profile, he previously worked as a system engineer at Meta before joining OpenAI and had an internship at Microsoft.
He also held a position as an investment partner at Raed Ventures, a Riyadh-based venture capital firm focusing on investments in the Middle East region. Other partners include Prince Khalid bin Bandar bin Sultan bin Abdulaziz Al Saud.
When Alfozan joined Raed Ventures on February 8, 2025, he was described as “a seasoned professional with extensive experience in the technology startup field” responsible for “identifying potential investment opportunities and supporting startups on their path to growth and success.” His official website bio was later updated to indicate his role as Head of Engineering at OpenAI, focusing on AI Agents and data platform.
A former CIA official familiar with Middle East affairs told CNBC that if Alfozan’s alleged eavesdropping on OpenAI was part of a state-level espionage operation, “it signifies that Saudi Arabia sees the benefits of engaging in economic espionage against allies in the AI boom as outweighing the risks.”