Ex-OpenAI employee accused of planting device appears to have Saudi backing

An ex-OpenAI engineer accused of planting a recording device in an ⁠executive conference room ⁠at the AI company appears to have received considerable support from the Saudi government, US prosecutors said in a court filing.

US federal prosecutors allege that the defendant, Abdulrahman Alfozan, 35, was in frequent communication with an unnamed member of the Saudi royal family and that a Saudi military official paid for a one-way plane ticket for Alfozan's wife ‌and young son to return to Saudi Arabia after his arrest, according to the ‌court ‌document that was made public.

Prosecutors made those allegations as they asked a US federal ‌judge to keep Alfozan in US custody to await trial, arguing he is a ⁠flight risk.

Alfozan, a Saudi national and lawful permanent resident in the US, is scheduled to appear in federal court in San Francisco later on Monday US time.

The case has highlighted security challenges around sensitive AI research as companies and governments compete fiercely for an edge in the transformational technology. 

"The defendant went to significant lengths to create customised, encrypted ​recording devices to secretly record highly sensitive meetings involving senior OpenAI personnel and executives, high-level business counterparts, and government officials, all while communicating with individuals of significance in Saudi Arabia and pursuing opportunities in — ⁠and making plans to travel to — Saudi Arabia," prosecutors wrote in a detention memo.

The Saudi government media office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A lawyer for Alfozan did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The lawyer, William Pernik, previously asked for Alfozan to be released from custody, subject to conditions including location monitoring and surrendering his passport, and said Alfozan had spent the last 15 years in the US and had applied to become a citizen.

The lawyer said a planned trip by Alfozan to Saudi Arabia this month was booked before he was under investigation and was for "family and immigration reasons," according to a court filing.

Device installed behind TV

US prosecutors charged Alfozan last week ​with using an electronic device to intercept oral communications.

Alfozan allegedly plugged ⁠a recording device into the back of a television in an executive conference room ⁠at one of OpenAI's San Francisco buildings, according to a criminal complaint.

Meetings involving government officials took place in the conference room around the time the device ​was installed, according to the prosecutors' detention memo. 

Prosecutors said the investigation remains active and additional charges could be brought against Alfozan.

A ‌member of the Saudi royal ⁠family sought to recruit Alfozan for an AI-focused role in Saudi Arabia, writing in one message, “Saudi needs you more then the US!" Alfozan replied "100," according to messages cited by prosecutors.

Before his arrest, Alfozan was scheduled to fly to Riyadh during a planned two-month parental leave.

His wife told investigators ‌that she and their son planned to move permanently to Saudi Arabia and that Alfozan eventually intended to join them, according to prosecutors.

In an Arabic-language interview on the Identity Capital podcast last month, Alfozan said that he visits Saudi Arabia three or four times a year, follows developments there and advises or mentors Saudi startups.

He said meeting Prince Mohammed bin ​Salman, then deputy crown prince, during a 2016 gathering with young Saudi tech workers in Silicon Valley persuaded him to learn at a top tech company before bringing those skills back home.

While Alfozan was working at Facebook, he and other Saudis in Silicon Valley formed a consulting initiative that linked Saudi ‌public- and private-sector ⁠organisations with expertise in big data, the internet of ​things and machine learning.

OpenAI previously said it discovered the device on September 30 and referred the matter to the FBI.