OpenAI engineer charged with bugging exec room booked flight to Saudi Arabia

Abdulrahman Alfozan, a Saudi national charged with secretly installing a recording device in an OpenAI executive conference room, booked a one-way ticket to Saudi Arabia with his wife and a third family member days before his arrest. Federal prosecutors revealed the travel plans in a court filing unsealed by the U.S. Attorney's Office in San Francisco, which argued that Alfozan had both the means and the incentive to flee the United States. The tickets, booked for Oct. 12 from San Francisco via Istanbul, were discovered before Alfozan was taken into custody on Oct. 9.

The criminal complaint alleges that OpenAI staff found a surreptitious audio recording device inserted into a USB port on the back of a television in a conference room on Sept. 30. The device, concealed in toilet paper, featured a detachable camera sensor, digital microphone, and microSD storage. Alfozan, 35, had no authority to enter the room, which is reserved for executives and used for highly confidential technical and strategic discussions. Closed-circuit TV footage showed Alfozan near the conference room on multiple days in September.

Alfozan is currently a venture partner at Raed Ventures, a firm that lists Prince Khalid Bin Bader Al Saud as a fellow partner. The complaint notes that Alfozan had worked at OpenAI since July 2025, where he served as an Engineering Lead focusing on AI Agents and the data platform. OpenAI terminated him following the incident. A former CIA official told CNBC that Raed Ventures functions as a state organ of the Saudi government, noting that one of its funds received investment from Saudi Venture Capital in December 2024.

The prosecution by the National Security, Cyber & Special Prosecutions Section of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of California charges Alfozan with one count of using or attempting to use an electronic device to intercept oral communications. He is not charged with corporate espionage or stealing trade secrets. If convicted, he faces up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

According to the filing, Alfozan used an AI productivity tool in August and September to inquire about OpenAI building addresses, meeting room capacities, and external partner meetings. A chatbot associated with his spouse, who was not charged, allegedly submitted prompts about installing and remotely accessing a recording device. After the first device was found, OpenAI installed a camera in the room and captured Alfozan checking behind the television on Oct. 5. That same day, he left a bag in a printer room containing his wallet, ID, and a second recording device made by the same Chinese manufacturer, Seeed.

OpenAI stated it has no indications that Alfozan accessed model weights, source code, or customer data. The company declined to comment on whether it knew about his position at Raed Ventures. Alfozan's attorney, William Pernik, noted that information has been limited since the charging documents were only recently unsealed.