Prosecutors say ex-OpenAI engineer charged in recording-device case appears to have Saudi government support

As of 1:11 p.m. ET, Monday, Oct. 19, 2026

Federal prosecutors in San Francisco said in a Sunday court filing that a former OpenAI engineer charged with planting a surreptitious audio recording device in an executive conference room "appears to" have received "considerable support" from a foreign government, according to the government's detention memorandum in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

The defendant, Abdulrahman Alfozan, 35, a Saudi national and lawful permanent resident of the United States, is charged with one count of using or endeavoring to use an electronic, mechanical, or other device to intercept oral communications, a violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2511(1)(b), according to the criminal complaint filed Oct. 8 and a Justice Department announcement on Oct. 13. He has not been convicted. The complaint does not charge theft of trade secrets, economic espionage, or acting as an agent of a foreign government.

Prosecutors asked a magistrate judge to keep Alfozan detained pending trial, arguing he is a flight risk. A detention hearing was scheduled for 11 a.m. Pacific time Monday, Oct. 19, before U.S. Magistrate Judge Alex G. Tse, according to the government's memorandum and the defense motion.

Alfozan was arrested by the FBI on Oct. 9, and OpenAI fired him after his arrest, according to the detention memorandum. If convicted on the charged offense, he faces a maximum of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine, the Justice Department said.

What prosecutors said about Saudi ties

In the Oct. 18 memorandum supporting detention, prosecutors wrote that Alfozan has "what appears to be considerable support from a foreign government that has (i) no extradition treaty with the United States; (ii) limitless resources; and (iii) the ability to provide extraordinary travel assistance."

Prosecutors said that throughout 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," four days before his arrest. They said the unnamed individual told Alfozan that an artificial intelligence initiative was being launched in Saudi Arabia and wanted him to join it. In May 2026, prosecutors wrote, the individual told Alfozan, "Saudi needs you more then [sic] the US!" and Alfozan replied "100," which prosecutors said indicated he agreed. Prosecutors said the individual repeatedly tried to recruit him and asked when he planned to leave OpenAI, and that Alfozan said at the time he would not leave until his stock vested.

The memorandum does not say the Saudi royal family member directed Alfozan to install a recording device or steal information from OpenAI.

Prosecutors also said that after Alfozan's Oct. 9 arrest, his wife and their young son initially planned to fly to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on Oct. 11 on a one-way ticket "booked and paid for by the Saudi government," that the flight was canceled, and that "a member of the Saudi military" then booked and paid for a one-way business-class ticket to Doha, Qatar, on Oct. 10. Prosecutors said the two departed San Francisco about 36 hours after the arrest.

Prosecutors wrote that Alfozan's alleged conduct "could pose a danger to the national security of the United States," saying that in the days around when the device was allegedly installed on or about Sept. 28, OpenAI executives met with government officials in that conference room. They said the investigation remains active and "may yet result in more serious charges."

The recording-device allegations

According to the Justice Department and the complaint, OpenAI personnel on or about Sept. 30 discovered a surreptitious audio recording device inserted into a USB port on the back of a television in an executive conference room at an OpenAI building in San Francisco. The device had been concealed in toilet paper and was believed to have been installed on or about Sept. 28, and its contents were encrypted, the Justice Department said.

The complaint alleges that on Oct. 5, Alfozan entered the room and appeared to look behind the television where the device had been inserted, and that the same day OpenAI security found a second, similar recording device in a bag Alfozan had left unattended, the Justice Department said. Alfozan had worked at OpenAI as an engineer since July 2025, according to the Justice Department.

In a statement after the Oct. 13 Justice Department announcement, OpenAI said that after discovering the device it contacted the FBI and terminated the employee accused of planting it, and that it had "no indications of this individual inappropriately accessing or exfiltrating model weights, source code, or customer data," CBS News reported.

Defense response

In an Oct. 16 motion for pretrial release, Alfozan's attorneys at Pernik Law APC asked the court to release him on conditions including GPS monitoring, home detention, surrender of passports, and a bond. They said Alfozan bought the family's one-way tickets to Riyadh on Sept. 13 — before OpenAI found the device and before his arrest — for "family and immigration reasons," and that buying one-way tickets is his long-standing travel habit.

The defense said Alfozan has lived in the United States for 15 years, is a lawful permanent resident with a naturalization interview scheduled for Nov. 6, 2026, in San Francisco, and returned from every one of the 25 international trips listed in the sworn travel history he submitted to the Department of Homeland Security. The attorneys wrote that "nationality is not evidence of flight" and that "if his intention was to flee, he would have done so" after learning OpenAI had found the device, about eight to ten days before his arrest.

The defense said the Consulate General of Saudi Arabia confirmed in writing that it would not issue Alfozan travel documents during any release and would notify U.S. Pretrial Services of any request. The motion states that Alfozan is presumed innocent and "concedes none of the government's allegations."

Comment

The Saudi government did not immediately respond to requests for comment from the BBC and Reuters, those outlets reported. Saudi officials and OpenAI had not commented on the prosecutors' claims of Saudi government support as of 1:11 p.m. ET Monday, Oct. 19.