A US judge denied bail to Abdulrahman Alfozan, a Saudi OpenAI employee accused of bugging the company’s San Francisco offices, citing his ties to Saudi royalty and risk of flight. Prosecutors said Alfozan exchanged frequent WhatsApp messages with an unnamed member of the Saudi royal family, including a May message where the royal said, “Saudi needs you more then [sic] the US!” and Alfozan replied “100”. The day after his arrest, his wife and son flew to Qatar on a one-way business-class ticket booked and paid for by a Saudi military official.
The Saudi consulate offered to cover his full bail with no limit, which Judge Alex G Tse called a “blank cheque”. Alfozan’s lawyers offered his $1mn Charles Schwab account as collateral instead. He earned $385,000 annually at OpenAI plus a $2.2mn equity package.
The case has raised concerns about foreign espionage targeting US AI firms.
Source: Financial Times Companies · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing