OpenAI employee arrested for listening device communicated with Saudi royal, feds say
The OpenAI engineer charged with planting a listening device in a company conference room was allegedly communicating with a member of the Saudi royal family and was arrested days before he and his family were booked on a one-way flight to Saudi Arabia, according to a detention memo filed by the Justice Department.
A Saudi military official allegedly booked and paid for Abdulrahman Alfozan's family's flight out of the country after he was arrested, according to the memo, which was filed Sunday night.
Alfozan was scheduled to go to Saudi Arabia on parental leave on Oct. 12 and booked a one-way ticket with no set date to return to the United States, according to the memo. He was arrested before the flight but his wife did leave on another flight allegedly paid for by the Saudi government, the memo says.
Alfozan, a Saudi national, is accused of placing the device inside a USB port in the back of a television in one of OpenAI's conference rooms that prosecutors note is frequently used by executives to host internal leadership meetings, "as well as external briefings with government officials and business counterparts."
The Justice Department said Alfozan's conduct could pose a "danger" to national security and he could face "additional serious charges."
Pernik Law, which is representing Alfozan, declined to comment.
In a statement after Alfozan's arrest, Open AI said it had identified him as the person who planted the device and referred the matter to the FBI and fired Alfozan.
"We referred the matter to the FBI, and we’re grateful to the agents and prosecutors who moved quickly to make an arrest," it said. "The FBI’s investigation is ongoing and we will continue to support their work. At this time, we have no indications of this individual inappropriately accessing or exfiltrating model weights, source code, or customer data."
Alfozan is scheduled to appear on Monday in a San Francisco federal courtroom to determine whether the government can hold him pending trial.
Investigators said they found a note entitled "Riyadh tasks" last edited on Sept. 13 that allegedly listed various action items, such as finding an apartment and job for his wife and obtaining a Saudi passport for his son.
They also said they found communications between Alfozan and a member of the Saudi royal family.
"Throughout 2025 and 2026, the defendant was in frequent communication via WhatsApp with a member of the Saudi Royal Family, including as recently as October 5, 2026," the detention memo says. "Among other things, the individual told the defendant that an artificial intelligence initiative was being launched in Saudi Arabia and wanted the defendant to join it. In May 2026, the individual told the defendant, “Saudi needs you more then [sic] the US!” to which the defendant responded “100,” indicating he agreed.
The member of the royal family repeatedly tried to recruit Alfozan and asked when he planned to leave OpenAI and Alfozan replied he wouldn’t until his stock vested, according to prosecutors.
He allegedly set up the listening device to the TV but rigged it in a way that it would not be detected on the TV settings and set up an AI chatbot account to "build a continuous audio recorder," according to the memo.
The Justice Department's memo noted that in the days surrounding when Alfozan placed the device in the conference room, "OpenAI executives met with government officials in that very room."
In the days following his arrest, FBI agents said they spoke with Alfozan's wife, who told them "she and her son were moving back to Saudi Arabia permanently. She added that her husband planned to return to the United States to resume working at OpenAI after spending two months in Saudi Arabia but that he, too, intended at some point to move to Saudi Arabia permanently to live there with her and their son."
"The defendant’s wife and son in fact flew from San Francisco to Doha, Qatar, on October 10, 2026 -- the day after the defendant was arrested -- on a one-way, business-class ticket booked and paid for by a Saudi military official," according to the detention memo.
Alfozan was allegedly looking for a leadership program and other opportunities in Saudi Arabia, according to the memo.
