Ex-OpenAI engineer accused of espionage had Saudi backing, prosecutors say

Federal prosecutors allege Abdulrahman Alfozan hid a recording device in an OpenAI conference room while in contact with a Saudi royal A former OpenAI engineer accused of bugging an executive conference room appears to have had substantial support from the Saudi government, according to US federal prosecutors. The engineer, Abdulrahman Alfozan, is a 35-year-old Saudi national. Prosecutors say he planted a covert audio recording device inside an executive meeting room at an OpenAI office in San Francisco. The device was reportedly hidden in toilet paper and plugged into a television’s USB port. According to the court filings, the recording device was installed around September 28, 2026. OpenAI discovered it two days later, on September 30.

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