A 35-year-old Saudi national, Abdulrahman Alfozan, has been charged with planting an audio recording device in an executive conference room at OpenAI’s San Francisco headquarters. Prosecutors revealed he was in frequent WhatsApp communication with a Saudi royal family member who was recruiting him for an artificial intelligence initiative in Saudi Arabia, even messaging that ‘Saudi needs you more than the US.’ Alfozan, an OpenAI engineer hired in July 2025 with an annual salary of $385,000 and $2.2 million in equity grants, was arrested on October 9, days after allegedly installing the device on September 28 in a room where government officials held sensitive meetings. Federal prosecutors are seeking his detention without bail, arguing he poses a flight risk given his resources and apparent support from a foreign government with no extradition treaty with the United States.
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