Former OpenAI Engineer Abdulrahman Alfozan Pleads Not Guilty to Secretly Bugging Company's Executive Conference Room

Abdulrahman Alfozan, a 35-year-old Saudi national and former OpenAI engineer, pleaded not guilty on Friday in San Francisco federal court to charges of intercepting oral communications after prosecutors alleged he planted a hidden recording device inside an executive conference room at OpenAI's headquarters.

Alfozan was arrested in early October and has been held without bail since, with prosecutors arguing he poses a national security risk. Prior to his plea hearing, the Saudi government had offered to pay bail on his behalf, but he was denied release. Federal prosecutors cited his frequent WhatsApp communications with a member of the Saudi Royal Family throughout 2025 and 2026 as grounds for continued detention. He was returned to jail following the brief Friday hearing.

OpenAI fired Alfozan after the incident came to light. The case has drawn national security scrutiny given the alleged foreign government ties and the sensitive nature of OpenAI's executive discussions that could have been captured by the device.