Ex-OpenAI employee accused of planting device has Saudi backing: Prosecutor

US federal prosecutors allege the defendant was in frequent contact with unnamed member of royal family.Published On 19 Oct 202619 Oct 2026An ex-OpenAI engineer accused of planting a recording device in an executive conference room at the AI company appears to have received considerable support from the Saudi government, United States prosecutors have said in a court filing.Federal prosecutors allege that the defendant, Abdulrahman Alfozan, 35, was in frequent communication with an unnamed member of the Saudi royal family and that a Saudi military official paid for a one-way plane ticket for Alfozan’s wife and young son to return to Saudi Arabia after his arrest, according to the court document, made public late on Sunday.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4PSG-Barcelona match will not be cancelled due to protests, French PM sayslist 2 of 4How HSBC’s Sharia fund invested millions in Israeli war-linked firmslist 3 of 4Brazilian court orders Meta to prove Lula and Bolsonaro get equal treatmentlist 4 of 4Can religion help Democrats win in red states? These faith leaders hope soend of listProsecutors made those allegations as they asked a federal judge to keep Alfozan in US c...