FBI Reviews Case of Former OpenAI Engineer Accused of Hiding Microphone
Prosecutors examine whether Abdulrahman Alfozan shared confidential AI data with Saudi Arabia before his arrest in Florida.
By Marco Whitaker ·
The federal government is deciding whether to bring espionage charges against Abdulrahman Alfozan, a former OpenAI engineer arrested this month in Florida. Investigators are determining if the 35-year-old Saudi national and US permanent resident provided confidential company information to the Saudi government. A law enforcement official told the Wall Street Journal that prosecutors are looking at whether Alfozan obtained secrets to offer to Riyadh, even if he was never formally recruited to do so.
Alfozan currently faces one federal charge of unlawfully intercepting communications. That offense carries a maximum prison sentence of five years. His next court date is set for November 6. His attorney, William Pernik, stated that his client has not been notified of any new charges. Pernik said the defense plans to fight the case in court rather than in the media.
According to prosecutors, Alfozan hid a small circuit board and microphone behind a television in a conference room used by OpenAI executives. He allegedly exchanged frequent WhatsApp messages with an unidentified member of the Saudi royal family in 2025 and 2026. The royal family member wrote that Saudi needs you more then the US, according to court documents. Alfozan replied with 100 but said he wanted to stay at OpenAI until his stock options vested.
The last known message exchange happened on October 5. On that same day, Alfozan reportedly returned to the conference room to retrieve the hidden device. OpenAI security staff had already found and removed the equipment before the FBI was notified. Prosecutors are also considering trade secret theft charges, though that may not lead to a separate prosecution.
Before his arrest, Alfozan bought one-way flights to Saudi Arabia via Istanbul for himself, his wife, and their three-month-old son. He was taken into custody three days before the scheduled trip. Prosecutors noted that his wife and son later flew to Qatar on business-class tickets paid for by a Saudi military official. Defense lawyers described that official as the wife's brother-in-law and argued that no military funds were used.
During a detention hearing on October 19, Magistrate Judge Alex G. Tse reviewed a letter from the Saudi Consulate in Los Angeles. The consulate offered to pay the full bail bond. The judge asked if the amount would be $10 million and called the offer a blank check. He denied bail, determining that Alfozan posed a flight risk. OpenAI is currently analyzing the data captured by the device to determine if it was corporate espionage or state-sponsored intelligence gathering.
