New to this? Read it in simple words
- A former OpenAI engineer is charged with hiding a recording device in a meeting room.
- Prosecutors say he often messaged a member of Saudi Arabia’s royal family.
- He is not charged with spying, and the claims have not been tested in court.
- A judge ordered him kept in jail, CNBC reports.
- Prosecutor
- A government lawyer who brings a criminal case against someone in court.
- Bond
- Money paid to a court so that someone can leave jail while waiting for trial.
- Detention
- Being kept in jail before a trial.
On October 13, US prosecutors announced that Abdulrahman Alfozan, a former OpenAI engineer, had been arrested. He is charged with secretly recording conversations at OpenAI’s headquarters in San Francisco. A new filing from prosecutors describes his contacts with Saudi Arabia.
The charge
Alfozan, 35, is a Saudi citizen and a permanent resident of the US. He was arrested on October 9 and faces one count of using a device to intercept spoken conversations. The maximum penalty is 5 years in prison.
Prosecutors say he put a hidden recording device in a port behind a television in an executive meeting room around September 28. OpenAI found it on September 30. A second device was found on October 5 in a bag he had left in a printer room, they say.
OpenAI fired him after his arrest, CBS and AP report. The claims have not been tested in court.
From the court papers, AP and CNBC. These are prosecutors’ claims, not proven facts.
What the new filing says
In a filing of October 18, prosecutors say Alfozan was “in frequent communication via WhatsApp with a member of the Saudi Royal Family”. The filing does not name that person, and says the person tried to recruit him.
Prosecutors also say a Saudi military official paid for flights to Doha for his wife and son on October 10. AP and the BBC report the same detail from the filing.
His conduct “could pose a danger to the national security of the United States”, prosecutors wrote. They do not say why he planted the devices, and he is not charged with spying.
The defence and the hearing
His lawyers asked for him to be released to home detention with a GPS tracker. They say the flights were bought more than two weeks before the devices were found, AP reports.
At a hearing on October 19, Judge Alex G. Tse ordered him held without bond, CNBC reports from the court. It is the only outlet that has reported the order so far.
The Saudi government did not immediately respond, the BBC and Reuters report. No new statement from OpenAI has been published.
Sources
Every fact in this story comes from the sources below. Open them to check our work.
- 1Primary source · October 18, 2026United States v. Alfozan, 3:26-mj-71329: criminal complaint and memorandum in support of the government’s motion for detention US District Court, Northern District of California (CourtListener)
- 2Research · October 19, 2026Ex-OpenAI worker accused of bugging conference room planned to fly to Saudi Arabia, prosecutors say AP (via SFGate)
- 3
- 4Research · October 19, 2026Ex-OpenAI worker who allegedly planted bug contacted Saudi royal CBS News (via Yahoo)
- 5Research · October 19, 2026Ex-OpenAI worker accused of planting device had Saudi support says court filing BBC News
- 6Research · October 19, 2026Ex-OpenAI employee accused of planting device appears to have Saudi backing, court filing shows Reuters (via The Hindu)
The charge and the Saudi contacts come from the court papers, and they are prosecutors’ claims, not proven facts. The no-bond order rests on CNBC’s report from the hearing alone.
Prosecutors say a former OpenAI engineer bugged an executive meeting room and kept frequent contact with a Saudi royal. How we rate the mood