A former OpenAI engineer accused of hiding a recording device in a company conference room has pleaded not guilty. Abdulrahman Alfozan, 35, entered the plea on Friday in San Francisco federal court.
The Saudi national was sent back to jail after the brief hearing before Magistrate Judge Peter Kang. His lawyer declined to comment after the hearing.
How the Case Unfolded
Prosecutors say Alfozan put a recording device inside a television in an executive conference room on Sept. 28. The room is located in OpenAI’s offices in San Francisco.
Prosecutors described the item as a “sophisticated recording device.” They allege it was part of an attempt to unlawfully record sensitive conversations.
Court documents claim he built custom, encrypted devices to record meetings involving senior OpenAI staff and executives. The Department of Justice released a photo it says shows him checking a recording device in the office.
A grand jury indicted Alfozan on Oct. 27 on a single count of interception of oral communications. If convicted, he faces up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The sentence could also include three years of supervised release.
Flights, Family and Saudi Ties
Alfozan was arrested on Oct. 9, three days before a planned trip to Riyadh with his wife and son. The family held one-way tickets for an Oct. 12 flight from San Francisco.
Prosecutors said his wife and son left the United States without him. They first planned to fly to Jeddah on Oct. 11 on a one-way ticket booked and paid for by the Saudi government.
That flight was canceled after a member of the Saudi military booked another one-way ticket. This one was a business class trip to Doha, Qatar, on Oct. 10.
The wife and son made that flight. They left San Francisco about 36 hours after Alfozan was arrested, according to prosecutors.
A later court filing alleged that Alfozan was in frequent contact with a member of the Saudi Royal Family over WhatsApp. The court also judged him to be a flight risk.
Alfozan is a venture partner at Raed Ventures, a Saudi venture capital firm. His bio on the firm’s site says he serves as Engineering Lead at OpenAI, with a focus on AI agents and the data platform.
Prince Khalid Bin Bader Al Saud, a member of Saudi Arabia’s royal family, is also a venture partner at the firm. Raed Ventures announced both men as venture partners on its website.
In June, President Donald Trump signed an executive order on AI innovation. It said U.S. policy is “to protect American ingenuity and intellectual property from exploitation and theft by adversaries.”
Earlier this year, OpenAI held talks with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund about investing in the company. The fund is the country’s sovereign wealth fund.
Alfozan has been held without bail since his arrest in early October. The judge ordered him to appear in court again on Nov. 17.
