Saudi national arrested in alleged AI espionage case

FILE PHOTO: FBI's Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT/FBI.gov)

(The Center Square) - A Saudi national has been arrested in an alleged corporate espionage case and is charged with attempting to steal artificial intelligence technology from a California company.

Abdulrahman Alfozan, 35, appeared Tuesday in the U.S. District Court in San Francisco after he was arrested and charged with using or endeavoring to use an electronic, mechanical or other device to intercept oral communications.

A former OpenAI engineer, he was in the U.S. on a visa. Within two months of being employed, he was allegedly caught stealing or attempting to steal sensitive communications about the company’s artificial intelligence technology. (In its references to AI, the Trump administration prefers the term "super intelligence.")

OpenAI first employed Alfozan in July 2025. Within two months, by last September, OpenAI personnel discovered a “surreptitious audio recording device” that Alfozan had allegedly inserted into a television USB port. The television was located in one of OpenAI’s San Francisco office’s executive conference rooms used to discuss highly sensitive information. The device had been concealed in toilet paper. Its contents were encrypted, according to the complaint.

U.S. Attorney Craig Missakian for the Northern District of California said the case “is a matter of national security.” Alfozan’s arrest “highlights our relentless efforts in partnership with the FBI to identify and prosecute those who seek to steal our technology, as alleged in the complaint," Missakian said.

“The Bay Area and Silicon Valley lead the world in developing tomorrow’s technology, and our office will continue to stand at the forefront of protecting that American innovation,” he said.

FBI Director Kash Patel noted that protecting American artificial intelligence innovation “is essential to safeguarding our nation’s economic strength and national security, and the FBI views that mission as one of our highest counterintelligence priorities.”

According to the complaint, Alfozan was discovered through OpenAI reviewing its closed-circuit television footage from inside the office building in question. It allegedly shows Alfozan appearing near the conference room on multiple dates prior to the device’s discovery. He had no authority to access or participate in meetings occurring in the conference room, according to the OpenAI company.

This specific conference room was used by high level employees to discuss “highly confidential technical, commercial, and strategic information, including proprietary research, product plans, and business-development opportunities, as well as nonpublic information about Open AI’s technical progress and strategic decisions, capabilities, priorities, government engagements, and commercial relationships,” according to the U.S. Department of Justice's complaint.

Prior to OpenAI finding the device, Alfozan allegedly used a productivity tool to make multiple inquiries about Open AI’s building addresses, meeting rooms, meeting-room capacities and calendars, “leadership and exec” locations and external partner meetings, according to the complaint.

His wife’s chatbot account was also allegedly used to submit prompts during the week that the device was believed to be installed in late September, according to the complaint. The prompts relate to “building, customizing, installing, audio recording, testing, obfuscating, and remote accessing a device, including inquiries about “build[ing] a continuous audio recorder,” “customiz[ing] Wi-Fi ... connectivity,” “improv[ing] audio and live listening,” and “encrypt[ing] the SD card,” according to the complaint. The same chatbot account also submitted prompts specifically related to recording device, a unique Mac address, among other issues, according to the complaint.

CCTV also shows Alfozan allegedly entering the conference room and looking behind the television where the device was installed about a week after he allegedly installed it. OpenAI security personnel allegedly found another recording device in his bag, which he left unattended, according to the complaint.

If convicted, he faces up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

The FBI is investigating the case as an outworking of National Security Presidential Memorandum 11 (NSPM-11) issued to advance American superiority in artificial intelligence technology.

Alfozan’s arrest comes as Americans have raised national security concerns related to the Saudis. Thousands of Americans involved in 911 Families United and 911 Justice groups have sued Saudi Arabia, arguing members of its government were involved in financing the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. This includes allegedly financially supporting 9/11 hijackers based in California. Fifteen of the 19 hijackers were Saudi citizens.

The Saudi government has fought the 9/11 families for years in court, denying the allegations. A federal judge ruled against the Saudis last year allowing the lawsuit to proceed. Last week, a federal judge heard arguments in the case in New York as the litigation proceeds.

The arrest also comes after 9/11 family advocates and others have expressed opposition to the Trump administration signing an agreement with Saudi Arabia, allowing it to develop a civilian nuclear program. Opponents argue the deal doesn’t include basic safeguards against nuclear proliferation and ignores justice and accountability that 9/11 families have been seeking for years.