OMM Newsroom
A Saudi national accused of secretly placing a recording device in a meeting room at “OpenAI” had “considerable support” from the Saudi government, according to a court filing in California cited by BBC World.
US prosecutors said Abdulrahman Alfozan, who worked for the artificial intelligence company, was in “frequent communication... with a member of the Saudi royal family”. They argued that the 35-year-old engineer posed a flight risk and should be detained pending trial.
Device discovered in meeting room
Alfozan had worked at “OpenAI” for about a year before allegedly trying to plant an audio recorder. The company found the device on 30 September, plugged into the back of a television in a conference room and covered with toilet paper.
A camera was placed in the room. On 5 October, Alfozan was filmed entering and appearing to look behind the television, where the recorder had been inserted.
The FBI arrested him on 9 October, and “OpenAI” terminated his contract. The filing said executives from the company had met government officials in the room during the period when the device was believed to have been installed, and alleged that Alfozan’s conduct could pose “a danger to the national security of the United States”.
Prosecutors cite family’s travel plans
The filing said Alfozan was due to fly from San Francisco to Riyadh on a one-way ticket with his wife and son three days after his arrest. After the arrest, his wife told FBI agents who interviewed her that her US visa was expiring and that she and her son were “permanently moving back to Saudi Arabia”; she said her husband intended to do the same, according to the document.
On 10 October, the day after Alfozan’s arrest, his wife and son flew from San Francisco to Doha, Qatar. Their one-way business-class tickets had been booked and paid for by a Saudi military official, the filing said.
“Ultimately, the defendant has little incentive to remain in the United States to see this case through,” prosecutors argued. The Saudi government did not immediately respond to BBC requests for comment.
The FBI investigation is ongoing. Alfozan is scheduled to appear in federal court in San Francisco later on Monday. If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 (£188,000) fine.
