A photo of Abdulrahman Alfozan checking a recording device at OpenAI’s offices in San Francisco, according to the Department of Justice.
Provided by: U.S. Department of Justice
A Saudi national accused of planting a wiretap device while working at OpenAI’s headquarters appeared in San Francisco federal court on Friday and pleaded not guilty.
Abdulrahman Alfozan, 35, was sent back to prison after a short hearing. Alfozan has been held without bail since his arrest on criminal charges in early October.
If convicted in this case, he could face up to five years in prison.
A grand jury indicted Alfozan on Oct. 27 on a single count of interception of oral communications, according to court records.
According to prosecutors, on September 28, the suspect placed a recording device on a television set in the executive conference room of OpenAI’s offices in San Francisco.
Alfozan’s lawyer declined to comment after the hearing before Judge Peter Kang.
The judge ordered Alfozan to next appear in court on November 17th.
Alfozan is a venture partner at Raed Ventures, a Saudi Arabian venture capital firm.
“He currently serves as an engineering lead at OpenAI, focusing on AI agents and data platforms,” says Alfozan’s profile page on the Raed site.
Prince Khalid bin Bader Al Saud, a member of the Saudi royal family, is a venture partner in the company.
Alfozan’s lawsuit comes amid growing concerns about the potential for AI technology to be stolen from U.S. companies such as OpenAI, which are rapidly developing artificial intelligence agents.
In June, President Donald Trump stated in his Executive Order on AI Innovation that it is U.S. policy to “protect American ingenuity and intellectual property from exploitation and theft by adversaries and to foster America’s advanced AI-enabled capabilities.”
President Trump has cultivated close ties with Saudi Arabia. But during his second term in the White House, he took steps to limit the number of visas granted to highly skilled foreign workers.
Earlier this year, OpenAI discussed investing in the company with Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, the Public Investment Fund.
— Jordan Novett reports from San Francisco
