Saudi man who bugged OpenAI office faces espionage charges – WSJ

Investigators are examining whether the suspect intended to offer confidential company information to Saudi Arabia

The FBI is examining whether a former OpenAI engineer accused of bugging an executive meeting room intended to offer secrets to Saudi Arabia.

The US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is weighing an economic espionage charge against a former OpenAI engineer accused of bugging a restricted conference room, the Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday, citing a law-enforcement official.

Abdulrahman Alfozan, a 35-year-old Saudi national, was arrested on October 9 after OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, discovered an encrypted recorder behind a television in an executive meeting room at its San Francisco offices. He is currently charged with using or attempting to use a device to intercept oral communications, an offense carrying up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

Investigators are now examining whether Alfozan stole information to offer to the Saudi government, even without having been recruited to do so, according to the WSJ. He is also reportedly being investigated for possible trade secret theft. An economic espionage conviction could carry up to 15 years in prison and a $5 million fine per count.

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His lawyer, William Pernik, said he had received no information about a possible espionage case, telling the WSJ that his client “will fight these charges and allegations in court, not in the press.”

Pernik has stressed that Alfozan was charged with violating a federal recording statute, “not stealing trade secrets or working as a foreign agent.”

OpenAI and the Saudi Embassy declined to comment when approached by the newspaper.

According to court documents, prosecutors claim that Alfozan, who joined OpenAI in July 2025, had intended to capture sensitive discussions about its AI technology. He allegedly maintained frequent contact with an unnamed member of the Saudi royal family throughout 2025 and 2026, with whom he discussed a potential job at an AI initiative in the kingdom.
His ties also included a role at Saudi investment firm Raed Ventures alongside Prince Khalid bin Bader Al Saud, though the prince was not identified as the royal involved.

Prosecutors said that Alfozan had booked tickets to the kingdom for himself, his wife, and their infant son for October 12. After his arrest, a flight for his family was reportedly arranged by a member of the Saudi military, whom Alfozan’s lawyer identified as his wife’s brother-in-law acting in a personal capacity.

The Saudi consulate has offered to cover his full bail, arrange supervision, and withhold travel documents, while the defense offered an additional $1 million in his assets.

On Monday, Magistrate Judge Alex G. Tse nevertheless denied release over flight concerns, describing the offer as “problematic.”

“It seems like a blank check: ‘We’re gonna pay whatever the court wants to make sure he gets out,’” the judge said, noting that Saudi Arabia has no extradition treaty with the US.

Director of National Intelligence Jay Clayton, whom US President Donald Trump appointed earlier this month to lead a federal AI task force, said the case underscored why winning the AI race was “a national security prerogative” and pledged to safeguard “America’s cutting-edge intellectual property from foreign threats.”

The incident comes amid intensifying global technological competition, with Trump insisting that America must prevail in the AI race at any cost.

The US president has repeatedly rejected calls by industry leaders to slow the development of increasingly powerful models, stressing that “Whoever wins AI, wins.”