Ex-OpenAI engineer 'appears to have received considerable support' from Saudi government, prosecutors allege
US prosecutors have told a federal court that ex-OpenAI engineer Abdulrahman Alfozan appears to have received considerable Saudi government backing, as they asked a judge to keep him in custody ahead of trial.
An ex-OpenAI engineer accused of planting a recording device in an executive conference room at the artificial intelligence company “appears to have received considerable support from the Saudi government”, US prosecutors alleged in a court filing made public late on Sunday.
Federal prosecutors allege that Abdulrahman Alfozan, 35, was in frequent communication with an unnamed member of the Saudi royal family, according to the detention memo. They also allege that a Saudi military official paid for a one-way plane ticket for Alfozan’s wife and young son to return to Saudi Arabia after his arrest.
Prosecutors made the allegations as they asked a federal judge to keep Alfozan in US custody to await trial, arguing he is a flight risk. Alfozan, a Saudi national and lawful permanent resident in the US, is scheduled to appear in federal court in San Francisco later on Monday.
Prosecutors said the investigation remains active and additional charges could be brought. He was charged last week with using an electronic device to intercept oral communications after allegedly plugging a recording device into the back of a television in an executive conference room at one of OpenAI’s San Francisco buildings.
The Saudi government media office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. His lawyer, William Pernik, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Sources: Reuters via Channel News Asia
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