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3 hours ago Pinned Saudi official paid for family of ex-OpenAI engineer accused of planting bug to flee US: feds A Saudi military official paid for the wife and infant son of a former OpenAI engineer accused of secretly planting a recording device inside the artificial intelligence company's headquarters to flee the United States just 36 hours after his arrest, according to federal prosecutors. Abdulrahman Alfozan, a Saudi national, was arrested Oct. 9, just three days before he was scheduled to fly from San Francisco to Riyadh with his family on a one-way ticket, according to a federal court memorandum filed Sunday. Prosecutors allege that a member of the Saudi military booked and paid for a one-way, business-class flight to Doha, Qatar, for Alfozan's wife and three-month-old son on Oct. 10. The pair subsequently returned to Saudi Arabia. The revelations came in a filing ahead of a Monday detention hearing in San Francisco, where prosecutors are seeking to keep Alfozan behind bars pending trial, arguing that he poses a serious flight risk. Alfozan is accused of concealing a sophisticated audio recording device in an executive conference room at OpenAI, where senior company officials regularly discussed confidential technology, business strategies and government engagements. Prosecutors allege that Alfozan used an AI chatbot to research how to build and encrypt recording devices and an OpenAI productivity tool to identify meeting rooms used by company executives. The filing also revealed that Alfozan had been communicating with a member of the Saudi royal family who repeatedly encouraged him to join an AI initiative in Saudi Arabia. "Saudi needs you more then [sic] the US!" the individual wrote in a May 2026 message, according to prosecutors. Alfozan, who joined OpenAI in July 2025, was fired following his arrest. Prosecutors said he earned an annual base salary of $385,000 after a raise and received a $2.2 million equity grant when he joined the company. Federal authorities argue that his financial resources, family ties to Saudi Arabia and apparent support from a foreign government make him a significant flight risk. The investigation remains ongoing, and prosecutors said additional charges could follow. Alfozan currently faces a federal charge related to the unlawful interception of oral communications, which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison if convicted. Posted by Stephen Sorace Share