Home · Technology · Oct 21 archive
Former OpenAI Engineer Accused of Bugging Had Saudi Support
· Confirmed
In Short: A former OpenAI engineer charged with planting a recording device had Saudi government support, according to prosecutors.
Former OpenAI engineer Abdulrahman Alfozan, 35, was charged with secretly installing a recording device in a conference room at the company's San Francisco headquarters, according to Fox News and Dexerto.
According to Fox News, Alfozan had a one-way flight booked to Saudi Arabia days before his arrest, while Justthenews reported that Saudi government officials helped arrange international travel for his wife and son shortly after his arrest.
Al Jazeera (Qatar) and Mansfieldradio (United Kingdom) reported that Alfozan was in frequent WhatsApp contact with a member of the Saudi royal family, including as recently as four days before his arrest.
NewsCord and Newscord reported that the device was found on September 30, plugged into the back of a TV in a conference room and covered with toilet paper.
Ars Technica and Ibtimes (Singapore) stated that Alfozan had been chatting with a member of the KSA royal family on WhatsApp and was pursuing opportunities to move back to Saudi Arabia.
According to Ars Technica, Alfozan had access to a folder called 'Saudi Gov Docs' on his iPhone, where he allegedly stored photos of a second bug he planted in the offices.
Justthenews and Al Jazeera (Qatar) reported that investigators are trying to determine if Alfozan's alleged surveillance was intended to help a foreign government.
While the exact nature of Alfozan's intentions remains unclear, multiple sources agree that he had significant connections to Saudi Arabia and was in the process of arranging travel there.
The sources also agree that Alfozan had been in contact with Saudi officials and had plans to return to Saudi Arabia.
The evidence suggests that Alfozan's actions may have been motivated by personal gain or to benefit Saudi Arabia.
What this adds
Prosecutors claim that Alfozan's interactions with the royal family included discussions about his plans to leave OpenAI and pursue opportunities in Saudi Arabia.
Background
Prosecutors claim that Alfozan's interactions with the royal family included discussions about his plans to leave OpenAI and pursue opportunities in Saudi Arabia.
Abdulrahman Alfozan, a Saudi engineer at OpenAI, was arrested for allegedly installing a recording device in a conference room to capture sensitive discussions.
What's confirmed
- OpenAI security personnel found the device on 30 September, with the recording device plugged into the back of a TV in a conference meeting room and covered up with toilet paper, and a camera was placed in the room.
- Report us Related Topics OpenAI Saudi Arabia A former OpenAI engineer accused of secretly planting a recording device inside the company's San Francisco headquarters maintained frequent contact with a member of the Saudi royal family and appears to have received considerable support from the Saudi government, according to a court filing reported by CNBC on Monday.
- He also has “at least two bank accounts in Saudi Arabia,” the government said.
- 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.
What's still developing
- - Ex-OpenAI engineer charged with planting recording device had one-way flight booked to Saudi Arabia, DOJ says - Anthropic warns self-replicating AI could spread across household devices within months - One state is ground zero as Trump's multibillion-dollar tech ambitions face a midterm test INSIDE JOB: The former OpenAI engineer charged with planting a recording device inside a conference room at the AI giant's San Francisco office had a one-way flight booked to Saudi Arabia days before he was taken into federal custody, the Justice Department said.
- RUSH TO MARKET: Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird joined "Big Money in the Morning" to discuss why eight states are suing OpenAI, alleging the artificial intelligence giant rushed its models to market without adequate safety testing.
- Earlier on this story 13 Oct: Federal Prosecutors Charge Abdulrahman Alfozan With Eavesdropping After OpenAI Finds Hidden Recorder This article is an automated aggregation of coverage from news outlets.
- Prosecutors said Flynn shot the 37-year-old twice in the back of the head as she lay in bed on Feb, 16, then staged a break-in to preserve his job at her family's company, collect life insurance, keep custody of their two daughters, and protect his standing in their church, all while pursuing a relationship with his mistress.
- No gun was recovered, but Miami County Assistant Prosecutor Matthew Joseph said plenty of evidence "leads straight to the defendant," ABC reports.
- "You heard that Ashley was shot twice in her head with 9mm bullets." Prosecutors said Flynn removed security cameras that would have captured an intruder weeks before the murder.
- Prosecutors said he claimed he was sleeping when his wife was shot, but his devices showed he had been moving around the house.
- Federal prosecutors disclosed the alleged connections as they sought to keep Abdulrahman Alfozan, 35, detained without bail.
- OpenAI says one of its internal systems has found a finite-time singularity in the three-dimensional Navier–Stokes equations, potentially resolving one of mathematics’ seven Millennium Prize Problems.
- OpenAI’s massive Navier–Stokes search involved 2.7 million messages and roughly 130 billion output tokens.
- OpenAI has launched GPT-6 Astra, its latest flagship AI model and what the company describes as the most capable model it has deployed to date.
- OpenAI determined it had been installed around September 28 and that its contents were encrypted.