A former OpenAI engineer who allegedly installed A sophisticated listening device installed in an executive conference room was in close contact with a member of the Saudi royal family and planning to leave the United States for Riyadh when authorities arrested him, federal prosecutors said in a court memorandum on Sunday.
Abdulrahman Alfozan is accused of leveraging artificial intelligence tools to help him develop encrypted recording devices and identify meeting rooms used by OpenAI executives, government officials and business partners.
The Saudi national earned an annual salary of $385,000 at OpenAI and received a $2.2 million stock grant when he first joined the company in July 2025.
In an 11-page filing, prosecutors wrote that investigators recovered evidence suggesting Alfozan may have planned to place even more devices inside. OpenAI offices. Prosecutors also revealed that the suspect exchanged WhatsApp messages with an unidentified Saudi royal who repeatedly encouraged him to return to the kingdom and join a Saudi family. AI initiative.
The filing also shows photographs of other potential surveillance locations, internal research regarding meetings between OpenAI and Saudi government officials, and notes suggesting he planned to take the devices back before leaving the company.
Investigators allege that on September 28, Alfozan installed a “surreptitious audio recording device into a USB port on the back of a television in an OpenAI executive conference room, where the device remained for at least several days.”
Prosecutors say he “modified the device to prevent data transfer between it and the television it was inserted into” and that he “also encrypted content stored on the device’s microSD.”
Ministry of Justice and Government Exhibition 
In the days before installing the device, investigators say Alfozan used an AI chatbot account belonging to his wife to research how to customize the recording device, including how to: “build a continuous audio recorder”, “capture microphone audio and save compressed WAV recordings to an SD card”, “enhance live audio and listening”, “develop… speech-triggered recording”, “add access and controls to the browser”, including “live listening”, and “encrypt SD card” and “decrypt and recover recordings from removed card.”
According to prosecutors, meetings in this executive conference room “frequently involve discussions of highly confidential technical, commercial and strategic information, including proprietary research, as well as non-public information about OpenAI’s technical progress and strategic decisions, capabilities, priorities, government commitments and business relationships.”
According to the filing, investigators determined that “in the days following the period in which the device was installed, OpenAI executives met with government officials in this same room,” alleging that “the defendant’s conduct could pose a danger to the national security of the United States.”
Prosecutors also revealed that his cellphone contained photographs of at least one other hidden recorder as well as electronic equipment in other OpenAI meeting rooms.
Prosecutors allege that during 2025 and 2026, Alfozan “was in frequent communication via WhatsApp with a member of the Saudi royal family, including as recently as October 5, 2026.”
The Saudi king, according to prosecutors, told Alfozan that an artificial intelligence initiative was being launched in Saudi Arabia and urged him to join.
“Saudi Arabia needs you more than the United States!” » the member wrote, as part of a campaign to recruit the defendant. Alfozan agreed but said he would not leave until his shares were vested.
The suspect was arrested on October 9, three days before he was scheduled to leave San Francisco with his wife and baby on a one-way flight to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Instead, his wife and 3-month-old son left the country the next day on business-class tickets purchased by a Saudi military official, prosecutors say. Before his arrest, the defendant had to take two months of parental leave starting in October 2026.
Alfozan, who has no criminal record, according to the filing, became a permanent resident of the United States in September 2020 and later applied for citizenship. OpenAI fired him after his arrest. A detention hearing was scheduled for Monday before American judge Alex Tse.
The government argued that Alfozan should be detained pending trial, alleging that his wealth, connections and apparent assistance from Saudi government officials put him at risk of fleeing the country.
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