Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

OpenAI engineer arrested by FBI for allegedly bugging conference room had booked one-way flight to Saudi Arabia
NY Post ^ | 10/15/26 | Marc Vartabedian

Posted on 10/15/2026 2:42:57 PM PDT by Libloather

The OpenAI engineer who was fired after being charged this week with bugging a conference room at the AI giant was nabbed by the FBI only three days before his one-way flight to Saudi Arabia was set to take off, according to court papers.

Abdulrahman Alfozan, a 35 year-old Saudi national, said he helped advise Saudi Arabia government agencies on technology and gushed in a recent podcast interview about meeting Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, then the deputy crown prince, during the prince’s 2016 visit to Silicon Valley.

Alfozan said he had been looking for guidance on whether to return to his homeland. In response, the prince advised young Saudis in Silicon Valley to hone their skills at premier tech companies before bringing that expertise home, Alfozan said in an Arabic podcast interview last month.

“You learn from the source and then, God willing, bring that experience and knowledge back to the homeland,” Alfozan said.

Alfozan – who had also worked at Meta and an Andreessen Horowitz-backed startup – was listed as a venture partner at RAED Ventures in Riyadh alongside Prince Khalid bin Bader Al Saud, a member of the Saudi royal family.

The revelations from the podcast come this week as OpenAI discovered a “surreptitious audio recording device” stuffed into a USB port on the back of a TV in a conference room — wrapped in toilet paper in an attempt to conceal the device, according to a complaint filed by federal prosecutors.

The alleged espionage highlights the cutthroat global race by governments to develop advanced AI. OpenAI has been competing with other leading AI labs including Anthropic and Elon Musk’s xAI along with numerous Chinese companies and the US government has said developing the most elite AI tools is a national security imperative.

(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Conspiracy; History; Local News
KEYWORDS: ai; arrested; engineer; fbi; openai; saudiarabia

Click here: to donate by Credit Card

Or here: to donate by PayPal

Or by mail to: Free Republic, LLC - PO Box 9771 - Fresno, CA 93794

Thank you very much and God bless you.

That won't look good on his record.


1 posted on 10/15/2026 2:42:57 PM PDT by Libloather
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: Libloather

.......espionage spy device wrapped in toilet paper?

Alahwahoo Alfozbar !


2 posted on 10/15/2026 3:04:56 PM PDT by Candor7 ( Ask not for whom the Trump Trolls,He trolls for thee!<img src="" width=300</img><a href="">tag</a>))
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Libloather

Take his redundant organs out.


3 posted on 10/15/2026 3:26:11 PM PDT by ConservativeMind (Trump: Befuddling Democrats, Republicans, and the Media for the benefit of the US and all mankind.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Libloather

His “permanent” record. And such a good old Irish name, too.


4 posted on 10/15/2026 4:20:43 PM PDT by desertsolitaire ("Wenn hinter Fliegen Fliegen fliegen, fliegen Fliegen Fliegen nach.")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Libloather

I was wondering if he would hear on some kind of an H1B visa. If so, it doesn’t look good for the H1B industrial complex.


5 posted on 10/15/2026 4:39:17 PM PDT by tinamina (Remember when Biden said “we have developed the most sophisticated voting fraud system ever”)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Libloather

Is this only for national security?

My boss put a bug in my office and a colleague, then put unlicensed key stroke software on my computer as well.

I promptly quit the second I got another job...


6 posted on 10/15/2026 4:45:54 PM PDT by Vendome (I've Gotta Be Me https://youtu.be/wH-pk2vZG2M)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Libloather

“Am I buggin’ you? I don’t mean to bug ya.”


7 posted on 10/15/2026 4:48:59 PM PDT by dfwgator ("I am Charlie Kirk!")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Libloather

Gaydar


8 posted on 10/15/2026 5:36:12 PM PDT by Zathras
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson