SAN FRANCISCO – A former OpenAI engineer accused of secretly placing a recording device in an executive conference room was only “mere days” from leaving for Saudi Arabia when he was arrested, federal prosecutors said in newly filed court documents.
Abdulrahman Alfozan, 35, a Saudi national, was fired by the ChatGPT maker, according to a government memorandum filed Sunday. Prosecutors said Alfozan’s wife and young son left the United States the day after his arrest on a one-way ticket purchased and paid for by a Saudi military official.
“Ultimately, the defendant has little incentive to remain in the United States to see this case through,” federal prosecutors wrote. They said Alfozan had substantial resources, including compensation earned during a decade in the Bay Area technology industry, at least two Saudi bank accounts and what appeared to be significant backing from a foreign government.
The government also pointed out that Saudi Arabia does not have an extradition treaty with the United States as it asked that Alfozan remain in custody until trial. A federal judge in San Francisco is scheduled to consider the request Monday.
Alfozan’s attorneys did not immediately respond to an email requesting comment before Monday’s hearing.
In their own filings, however, the defense lawyers said Alfozan had bought one-way tickets for his family to travel to Saudi Arabia more than two weeks before prosecutors allege the recording devices were installed. They said the couple intended to spend Alfozan’s approximately two-month paternity leave there after the birth of their son, who is a U.S. citizen.
Prosecutors said Saudi officials later bought replacement tickets for Alfozan’s wife and son, allowing them to leave the United States earlier than the Oct. 12 departure date on the original booking.
The defense also said Alfozan was preparing to become a naturalized U.S. citizen, with an interview before federal officials set for next month. He has been a lawful permanent resident since 2020, lived in the United States for 15 years and studied at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the University of California, Berkeley, his lawyers said.
“This was a long-held dream for the Alfozan family, as it is for so many immigrants,” his attorneys wrote. “His plan was always to return to the Bay Area, where his home, his career, and his community are.”
Instead of remaining in federal detention, Alfozan’s lawyers proposed that he be confined to his family’s home in the San Francisco suburbs. Their suggested conditions include GPS monitoring, limits on travel and surrender of his passport.
Prosecutors have not disclosed what Alfozan allegedly intended to do with the recordings. They said, however, that he was in “frequent communication” with a member of the Saudi royal family who repeatedly sought to recruit him for an artificial intelligence venture being developed in Saudi Arabia.
According to prosecutors, Alfozan wrote in WhatsApp messages that he would not leave OpenAI until his stock had vested, even while considering other employment opportunities in Saudi Arabia.
The government alleges that Alfozan hid an audio recorder inside toilet paper before connecting it to a USB port on the back of a television in an executive conference room he was not authorized to enter. Security footage allegedly showed him entering the room and inspecting the area behind the television after installing the device. It remained in place for several days before it was discovered Sept. 30.
The conference room was regularly used for meetings involving company executives, government officials and other senior leaders, prosecutors said. Those meetings included discussions about highly confidential technical, commercial and strategic matters, including proprietary research and other nonpublic information.
OpenAI has described the device as sophisticated and designed to avoid detection. The company said it included advanced encryption and audio-monitoring functions, and that it had evidence suggesting Alfozan intended to install additional listening devices elsewhere in the office.
Alfozan is charged with using or attempting to use an electronic, mechanical or other device to intercept oral communications. A conviction could bring a prison sentence of up to five years.
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Marcelo reported from New York.
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