OpenAI bugging suspect allegedly booked one-way trip to Saudi Arabia

What the report says

US prosecutors allege that Abdulrahman Alfozan, a Saudi national and former OpenAI engineer, booked a one-way trip to Saudi Arabia before his arrest in San Francisco. According to a court filing unsealed on Wednesday, he had been scheduled to travel on October 12 with his wife and another family member. Prosecutors said they raised the alleged travel plans with a judge on October 8 while seeking to keep the criminal complaint sealed, arguing he had both the means and incentive to leave the United States.

Alfozan was arrested by the FBI on October 9 after OpenAI staff reported finding a hidden listening device in a conference room at the company’s headquarters. He has been charged with using or trying to use an electronic or mechanical device to intercept oral communications. The offense carries a potential sentence of up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine, according to the report.

Alfozan’s lawyer said the defense plans to challenge both the allegations and his continued detention. The attorney also said the case should be handled fairly and pushed back against suggestions tied to his national origin. Al Jazeera reported that the case has renewed attention on security concerns at frontier AI companies and the risk of espionage around the sector. The report also said Alfozan previously worked at Meta and Microsoft and had ties to a Riyadh-based venture capital firm.