Judge orders former OpenAI engineer in office bugging case held without bail

A federal judge in San Francisco on Monday, October 19, ordered Abdulrahman Alfozan, the former OpenAI engineer charged with planting a hidden audio recorder in an executive conference room, held without bail pending trial, finding a “significant” risk that he would not appear, CNBC and the BBC reported. Alfozan, 35, has not been convicted and is presumed innocent.

Judge Alex Tse questioned an offer from the Saudi Consulate in Los Angeles to pay Alfozan’s full bail, calling it “problematic” and saying it “seems like a blank check,” according to CNBC. “He doesn’t have to go all the way to Saudi Arabia,” Tse said. “He just has to go to Canada or Mexico.” Alfozan is due back in court on Friday, November 6.

In a detention memo, prosecutors said Alfozan had been “in frequent communications via WhatsApp with a member of the Saudi Royal Family” in 2025 and 2026, and that the person repeatedly tried to recruit him for an AI initiative in Saudi Arabia, CNBC reported. The filing does not say that person directed him to install a device or take information. Prosecutors also said that after his October 9 arrest, his wife and infant son flew from San Francisco to Doha on a ticket paid for by a member of the Saudi military, and that the alleged conduct “could pose a danger to the national security of the United States.” They called the investigation ongoing and said it “may yet result in more serious charges.”

His lawyer, William Pernik, argued that “nationality is not evidence of flight,” that the planned October 12 trip was for family and immigration reasons, and that Alfozan regularly buys one-way tickets because they are cheaper than changing flights. Alfozan learned of OpenAI’s discovery about eight to ten days before his arrest, Pernik wrote, and “if his intention was to flee, he would have done so at that time.” He offered $1 million in assets toward a release with home detention and GPS monitoring.

Alfozan is charged with one count of using or attempting to use a device to intercept oral communications, which carries up to five years in prison, the Justice Department said. OpenAI has said it has no indication that model weights, source code or customer data were taken, according to The San Francisco Standard, and it has terminated him. The Saudi government did not respond to the BBC’s request for comment.

Judge orders former OpenAI engineer in office bugging case held without bail

Sources