Ex-OpenAI engineer, who planted bug in office, connected to Saudi Royal family: Report
The ex-OpenAI employee had WhatsApp messages with an unidentified Saudi royal, who was encouraging him to leave the US and join Riyadh's AI initiative.
A former OpenAI engineer, Abdulrahman Alfozan, was arrested for allegedly planting a bug in the company's San Francisco office. Alfozan, a Saudi national, reportedly used AI tools to develop encrypted recording devices and identified meeting rooms used by OpenAI executives, government officials, and business partners. According to a 11-page filing by the US Justice Department, he communicated with a Saudi royal via WhatsApp, who urged him to leave the US and join Saudi Arabia's AI initiative.
Alfozan agreed but wanted his stock to vest before leaving. Prosecutors found photographs of meetings between OpenAI and Saudi government officials and noted that Alfozan planned to retrieve the devices before leaving. On October 9, three days before his departure, Alfozan was arrested. His wife and 3-month-old son had already left the US on a one-way ticket to Riyadh, purchased by a Saudi military official.
Written by urgent.news from Hindustan Times - World News's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
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