Prosecutors say Abdulrahman Alfozan communicated with a Saudi royal on WhatsApp, who told him 'Saudi needs you more then the US!'
Prosecutors said Alfozan communicated with an unnamed Saudi royal as recently as October 5, and the royal repeatedly tried to recruit him for a Saudi AI initiative, telling him in May 2026, 'Saudi needs you more then the US!'
After Alfozan's arrest, a member of the Saudi military booked a one-way business class ticket for his wife and three-month-old son, who left the U.S. on October 11, according to prosecutors.
Prosecutors said Alfozan earned $385,000 annually at OpenAI and received a $2.2 million equity grant when he joined in July 2025, and that he researched how to build encrypted recording devices using an AI chatbot.
