A former engineer at OpenAI was arrested on October 9 for allegedly installing sophisticated listening devices in the executive conference room. Details about the man were revealed in court documents made public on Sunday, October 18. US federal prosecutors stated in the documents that the 35-year-old defendant, Abdulrahman Alfozan, had frequent contact with a member of the Saudi royal family.
The court documents indicate that Alfozan, a Saudi citizen with legal permanent residency in the US, was scheduled to fly to Saudi Arabia from San Francisco via Istanbul on October 12 with his wife and their three-month-old son, booking one-way tickets for the family. However, three days before the planned departure date, Alfozan was arrested. Subsequently, the Saudi government paid for the one-way tickets for Alfozan’s wife and son, but the flight was canceled. A Saudi military personnel then rebooked business class one-way tickets for the mother and child.
According to The Wall Street Journal, sources revealed that the Saudi military personnel who helped book the tickets is the brother of Alfozan’s wife.
Alfozan was expected to appear in federal court in San Francisco on Monday, October 19. He is accused of using artificial intelligence tools to develop encrypted recording devices and identify the meeting rooms used by OpenAI executives, government officials, and business partners.
Prosecutors stated in a detention memo that, “The defendant painstakingly crafted specialized encryption recording devices to clandestinely record highly sensitive meetings. The attendees of these meetings included top OpenAI executives, officials, and high-level business partners and government officials. At the same time, he maintained contact with important figures in Saudi Arabia, seeking opportunities for development in the country and planning to travel there.”
The court documents also revealed evidence suggesting that Alfozan may have planned to place more devices in the OpenAI office. He also communicated via WhatsApp with an unidentified member of the Saudi royal family, who tried to recruit him to Saudi Arabia for an artificial intelligence project.
“Saudi Arabia needs you more than the US!” the member of the Saudi royal family said. Alfozan responded with “100” (indicating full agreement).
Prosecutors argued that Alfozan poses a flight risk and should remain in custody.
The court documents included photos of other potential surveillance locations, internal search records regarding meetings between OpenAI and Saudi government officials, and notes indicating that Alfozan may have planned to retrieve the devices before leaving the company.
Investigators claimed that on September 28, Alfozan inserted a “covert recording device” into a USB port on the back of a television in an executive conference room at OpenAI, and the device remained in place for at least several days.
According to the court documents, investigators found that “in the days before and after the installation of the device, OpenAI executives had meetings with government officials in that room.” The prosecution alleged that “the defendant’s actions may pose a threat to national security.”
Prosecutors alleged that Alfozan modified the device to “prevent data transfer between it and the television it was plugged into” and encrypted the content stored on the microSD card inside the device.
Alfozan’s lawyer, William Pernik, stated that Alfozan’s trip to Saudi Arabia planned for this month was booked before he was under investigation and was due to “family and immigration reasons.”
Prosecutors said that before his arrest, Alfozan had planned to fly to Riyadh during a two-month parental leave. His wife informed investigators that she and their son planned to permanently move to Saudi Arabia, and Alfozan also intended to reunite with them eventually.