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

Saudi national Abdulrahman Alfozan was due to fly to Saudi Arabia on October 12, US prosecutors say in a court filing.

A device the US Justice Department says was installed in an OpenAI executive conference in San Francisco, California, the US [US Department of Justice/Handout via Reuters]

The Saudi national accused of bugging OpenAI’s headquarters booked a one-way flight to Saudi Arabia before his arrest, US prosecutors have alleged.

Abdulrahman Alfozan, a former OpenAI engineer, had been scheduled to fly to Saudi Arabia with his wife and another family member on October 12, prosecutors said in a court filing unsealed on Wednesday.

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The FBI arrested Alfozan, who worked at OpenAI for about 15 months until his termination last week, on October 9, after OpenAI personnel reported the discovery of a hidden listening device in a conference room at the company’s San Francisco headquarters.

Alfozan, 35, has been charged with “using or endeavoring to use an electronic, mechanical, or other device to intercept oral communications”.

The offence carries a maximum punishment of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

Prosecutors disclosed the alleged flight booking to a judge on October 8 in a motion seeking to seal the criminal complaint against Alfozan, arguing he had the “means – and will have an incentive – to flee” the United States.

William Pernik, Alfozan’s lawyer, said he and his client planned to contest the criminal allegations and his client’s ongoing detention in court.

“We trust that the American justice system will treat our client fairly, despite the narrative painted in the media at this time,” Pernik told Al Jazeera.

“Our client is a well regarded professional with long standing ties to the community,” Pernik added.

“He is presumed innocent and is entitled to fair treatment and due process of law. The emphasis on his national origin and therefore suggestions of lack of trustworthiness or flight risk harken back to dark chapters of our nation’s history that we intend to fight fully.”

Alfozan’s arrest has shone a spotlight on concerns that frontier tech firms are a target for spying and industrial espionage amid the global race to gain an upper hand in AI.

Before joining OpenAI in July last year, Alfozan worked as a systems engineer at Meta and interned at Microsoft, according to a LinkedIn profile in his name.

Alfozan is also listed as a venture partner at Raed Ventures, a Riyadh-based venture capital firm whose other partners include Prince Khalid bin Bandar bin Sultan bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, a member of the Saudi royal family.

In a statement announcing Alfozan’s appointment in February 2025, Raed Ventures described the engineer as “a seasoned professional with extensive experience in tech startups” and said his role would involve “identifying promising investment opportunities and supporting startups on their journey toward growth and success”.

美国检察官在一份法庭文件中称，沙特公民阿卜杜勒拉赫曼·阿尔福赞原定于10月12日飞往沙特阿拉伯。

美国司法部称，一台设备被安装在加利福尼亚州旧金山举行的 OpenAI 高管会议上。[美国司法部/路透社供图]

美国检方指控，被控窃听 OpenAI 总部的沙特公民在被捕前预订了飞往沙特阿拉伯的单程机票。

检察官在周三公布的一份法庭文件中表示，前 OpenAI 工程师 Abdulrahman Alfozan 原计划于 10 月 12 日与妻子和另一名家庭成员一起飞往沙特阿拉伯。

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10 月 9 日，FBI 逮捕了 Alfozan，他曾在 OpenAI 工作约 15 个月，直到上周被解雇。此前，OpenAI 人员报告称，在该公司位于旧金山的总部会议室里发现了一个隐藏的窃听装置。

35岁的阿尔福赞被指控“使用或试图使用电子、机械或其他设备拦截口头交流”。

该罪行最高可判处五年监禁和25万美元罚款。

10 月 8 日，检察官向法官披露了据称的航班预订信息，并提交动议要求封存针对阿尔福赞的刑事诉讼，理由是他“有能力——并且有动机——逃离”美国。

阿尔福赞的律师威廉·佩尔尼克表示，他和他的当事人计划在法庭上对刑事指控和当事人目前被拘留提出异议。

“我们相信，尽管媒体目前描绘的景象并非如此，但美国司法系统会公平对待我们的客户，”佩尔尼克告诉半岛电视台。

佩尔尼克补充道：“我们的客户是一位备受尊敬的专业人士，与社区有着长期的联系。”

“他被推定为无罪，有权获得公平对待和正当法律程序。强调他的国籍，并因此暗示他缺乏可信度或有潜逃风险，这让人回想起我们国家历史上黑暗的篇章，我们将全力与之抗争。”

阿尔福赞的被捕凸显了人们的担忧，即在全球人工智能竞赛中，前沿科技公司正成为间谍活动和工业间谍的目标。

根据他名下的 LinkedIn 个人资料显示，在去年 7 月加入 OpenAI 之前，Alfozan 曾在 Meta 担任系统工程师，并在微软实习过。

Alfozan 也被列为 Raed Ventures 的风险合伙人，这是一家位于利雅得的风险投资公司，其其他合伙人包括沙特王室成员哈立德·本·班达尔·本·苏丹·本·阿卜杜勒阿齐兹·阿勒沙特王子。

在 2025 年 2 月宣布 Alfozan 的任命的声明中，Raed Ventures 将这位工程师描述为“一位经验丰富的专业人士，在科技创业公司方面拥有丰富的经验”，并表示他的职责将包括“寻找有前景的投资机会，并支持创业公司走向成长和成功”。