Ex-OpenAI worker accused of bugging conference room planned to fly to Saudi Arabia, prosecutors say

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A former OpenAI engineer charged with secretly installing a recording device in a conference room to glean company details had been “mere days” away from absconding to Saudi Arabia before his arrest last week, federal prosecutors revealed in new court filings.Abdulrahman Alfozan’s wife and young son also left the country the day after the 35-year-old Saudi national’s arrest, traveling on a one-way ticket booked and paid for by a Saudi military official, prosecutors said in a memo Sunday seeking his continued detention.“Ultimately, the defendant has little incentive to remain in the United States to see this case through,” federal prosecutors wrote. “He has ample resources —including his significant compensation from a decade of high-tech employment in the Bay Area and at least two bank accounts in Saudi Arabia — and what appears to be considerable support from a foreign government.”A federal judge in San Francisco sided with prosecutors Monday, denying a request by