Ex-OpenAI employee accused of planting device had Saudi backing, prosecutor says

US federal prosecutors say Abdulrahman Alfozan, a 35-year-old former OpenAI engineer, was in frequent contact with an unnamed member of the Saudi royal family. They also allege that a Saudi military official paid for a one-way ticket for Alfozan’s wife and young son to return to Saudi Arabia after his arrest. Alfozan is accused of creating customized encrypted recording devices to secretly record sensitive meetings at OpenAI. Prosecutors are asking a judge to keep him in US custody until trial, arguing that he is a flight risk.