Court filing alleges Saudi support for former OpenAI worker

US prosecutors allege that Abdulrahman Alfozan, a former OpenAI engineer charged with trying to plant a recording device in a company meeting room, had “considerable support” from the Saudi government. The claims appear in a court filing in California. The Saudi government did not immediately respond to a BBC request for comment.

According to the filing, Alfozan, 35, worked at OpenAI for around a year. The company found an audio recorder plugged into the back of a television and covered with toilet paper on 30 September. A camera was placed in the room, and on 5 October Alfozan was filmed entering and appearing to look behind the television. The FBI arrested him on 9 October, and OpenAI terminated his contract.

Prosecutors say Alfozan was in frequent communication with a member of the Saudi royal family. They also allege that a Saudi military official paid for a one-way business-class flight to Doha, Qatar, for his wife and son on 10 October, the day after his arrest. The filing says his arrest came three days before he was scheduled to fly one way from San Francisco to Riyadh with them. His wife reportedly told FBI agents that her US visa was expiring and that she and her son planned to move permanently to Saudi Arabia.

Prosecutors argued that Alfozan posed a flight risk and could endanger US national security because company executives met government officials in the room during the period the device was believed to have been installed. He is scheduled to appear in federal court in San Francisco later on Monday. If convicted, he faces up to five years in prison and a $250,000 (£188,000) fine.