Ex-OpenAI worker accused of bugging offices planned to 'flee' to Saudi Arabia, prosecutors say

A former OpenAI engineer charged with secretly installing a recording device at its offices was "mere days" away from fleeing to Saudi Arabia before his arrest, prosecutors allege.

Abdulrahman Alfozan, a 35-year-old Saudi national, was also fired from his job at the creator of ChatGPT, according to a government memo filed on Sunday.

He was arrested and charged with using or endeavouring to use an electronic, mechanical or other device to intercept oral communications earlier this month.

Alfozan's wife and young son left the US the day after his arrest on a one-way ticket booked and paid for by a Saudi military official, prosecutors alleged in the filing.

Prosecutors will argue to detain Alfozan, who has worked for OpenAI since July 2025, at a San Francisco court hearing on Monday.

"Ultimately, the defendant has little incentive to remain in the United States to see this case through," federal prosecutors wrote.

"He has ample resources - including his significant compensation from a decade of high-tech employment in the Bay Area and at least two bank accounts in Saudi Arabia - and what appears to be considerable support from a foreign government."

Prosecutors added that Saudi Arabia has no extradition treaty with the US.

Alfozan's lawyers argued in court filings that the engineer had purchased one-way tickets for his family to Saudi Arabia more than two weeks before prosecutors allege the devices were installed.

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The defence said the couple planned to spend Alfozan's two-month paternity leave in Saudi Arabia following the birth of their US-citizen son.

But prosecutors argue Saudi officials purchased new plane tickets for the wife and son to leave the US sooner than the flight Alfozan initially booked for 12 October.

Alfozan's lawyers also argued that he was on track to become a naturalised US citizen with an interview with federal officials scheduled next month.

"This was a long-held dream for the Alfozan family, as it is for so many immigrants," his lawyers wrote.

"His plan was always to return to the Bay Area, where his home, his career, and his community are."

Prosecutors also allege that Alfozan said in a WhatsApp message to an unnamed person that he wouldn't leave OpenAI until his stock was vested.

Alfozan is accused of concealing an audio recording device in toilet paper and plugging it into the back of a television in an executive conference room he wasn't authorised to access. It remained there for several days before being found.

(c) Sky News 2026: Ex-OpenAI worker accused of bugging offices planned to 'flee' to Saudi Arabia, prosecutors say