FBI Explores Espionage Case Against Saudi OpenAI Suspect

The Federal Bureau of Investigation is looking at potentially adding an economic espionage charge against Abdulrahman Alfozan, the former OpenAI engineer who faces wiretapping allegations that he bugged a restricted conference room, a law-enforcement official said.Surveillance image of a man described as Abdulrahman Alfozan, from video included in a charging document.The investigation centers on the possibility that Alfozan stole information from OpenAI in order to offer it to the Saudi government, even if he wasn’t recruited to do so, the official said.William Pernik, a lawyer for Alfozan, said he hadn’t received any information from the government on potential additional charges. “We made it very clear that Mr. Alfozan will fight these charges and allegations in court, not in the press,” he said.Alfozan, 35, is a Saudi national and a legal permanent resident of the U.S. He studied computer science at MIT and worked at tech firms including Meta before joining OpenAI in 2025. Alfozan was denied bail in an Oct. 19 hearing, with the judge determining him to be a serious flight risk.The former OpenAI engineer and Saudi national is accused of wrapping a thumb-sized circuit board and microphone in toilet paper and inserting the device behind a wall-mounted TV inside a conference room that is mostly used by company executives. He is charged with violating a federal recording statute, which carries a maximum prison sentence of five years. His next court hearing is scheduled for Nov. 6.The Saudi embassy in Washington and OpenAI declined to comment.The law-enforcement official said the government’s ongoing investigation was exploring whether Alfozan committed offenses including the theft of trade secrets, in addition to questions about economic espionage. It is possible the probe won’t lead to any additional charges, the official said.Alfozan’s arrest raised the specter of spies in Silicon Valley, where firms working on cutting-edge technology have long warned staff that bad actors could try to steal their secrets.The FBI’s exploration of an economic espionage case doesn’t necessarily mean the government would allege that Alfozan acted at the behest of the Saudi government. Instead, any charge could rest on allegations that he planned to shop what he allegedly collected to the Saudis at a later date.In September, Alfozan booked one-way plane tickets from San Francisco to Saudi Arabia via Istanbul for himself, his wife and three-month old son, prosecutors said. But three days before the scheduled departure in mid-October, Alfozan was arrested.During Alfozan’s detention hearing on Monday, it emerged that his wife and son left without him shortly after his arrest. They flew business class to Qatar, with tickets purchased by a member of the Saudi military, prosecutors said. Alfozan’s lawyers said in court the military official was the wife’s brother-in-law and he did not use military funds to buy the ticket. They added Alfozan often booked one-way flights.Prosecutors also alleged that throughout 2025 and 2026, Alfozan was in frequent WhatsApp communication with an unnamed member of the Saudi royal family.The unnamed Saudi royal family member allegedly tried to recruit Alfozan for an AI initiative that was being launched in Saudi Arabia. “Saudi needs you more then [sic] the US!” the unnamed member of the royal family told Alfozan, according to a court filing.Alfozan allegedly replied, “100.” Alfozan also said at the time that he wouldn’t leave until his OpenAI stock had vested, according to prosecutors.The most recent communication between them happened on Oct. 5., prosecutors said, the same day that Alfozan allegedly went back to the restricted conference room to look for his recording device.Unbeknown to him, the device had been removed by OpenAI during a security sweep days earlier. The company had alerted the FBI shortly after finding it.OpenAI is trying to assess what information Alfozan may have captured and whether this was a case of corporate espionage or state-sponsored spying, a person familiar with the investigation said. The Wall Street Journal’s parent company, News Corp, has a content deal with OpenAI.In court, U.S. Magistrate Judge Alex G. Tse repeatedly brought up a letter from Saudi Arabia’s Los Angeles consulate that said it would cover Alfozan’s entire bail bond.“Even if I set it at $10 million?” asked the judge. “I find that problematic. Seems like a blank check. ‘We’re gonna pay whatever the court wants to make sure he gets out.’”In a recently released podcast interview, Alfozan recalled attending a 2016 event in Silicon Valley, where Saudi Arabia’s Mohammed bin Salman met with young Saudi tech workers. At one point, the topic of whether to return to the homeland or not came up.Prince Mohammed told the group the better strategy was to hone skills in the U.S. before coming back, Alfozan recalled in the podcast interview.“You learn from the source and then, God willing, bring that experience and knowledge back to the homeland,” Alfozan said.Write to Dave Lawler at david.lawler@wsj.com and Angel Au-Yeung at angel.au-yeung@wsj.com