Accused OpenAI spy had folder called “Saudi Gov Docs,” FBI says

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On Monday, a court granted the US government’s request to deny release of a former OpenAI engineer accused of bugging a top-secret conference room to steal the frontier lab’s secrets. In a court filing Sunday, US attorney Craig Missakian argued that Abdulrahman Alfozan must continue to be detained while the US makes its case that Alfozan brazenly spied on OpenAI, either for his own personal business gain or to benefit the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

周一，法院批准了美国政府的请求，拒绝释放一名前 OpenAI 工程师。该工程师被指控在绝密会议室安装窃听器，以窃取这家前沿实验室的机密。在周日提交的一份法庭文件中，美国检察官克雷格·米萨基安（Craig Missakian）辩称，在美方证明阿尔福赞（Abdulrahman Alfozan）公然为个人商业利益或沙特阿拉伯王国利益而对 OpenAI 进行间谍活动期间，必须继续将其拘留。

Evidence showed that Alfozan had been chatting with a member of the KSA royal family on WhatsApp, while pursuing opportunities to permanently move back to Saudi Arabia during the country’s biggest AI push yet, the government argued. Shortly before his arrest, the FBI found he accessed a folder called “Saudi Gov Docs” on his iPhone, where he also allegedly stored photos of a second bug he planted in the offices.

政府指出，证据显示阿尔福赞一直在 WhatsApp 上与沙特王室成员聊天，同时正值沙特大力推动人工智能发展之际，他也在寻求永久迁回沙特的机会。在逮捕前不久，联邦调查局（FBI）发现他在 iPhone 上访问了一个名为“沙特政府文件”（Saudi Gov Docs）的文件夹，据称他还将自己在办公室安装的第二个窃听器的照片存储在其中。

With so much evidence against him, Alfozan—a Saudi national and US permanent legal resident—is a flight risk with seemingly endless support from the Saudi government, Missakian alleged. The FBI arrested Alfozan days before he could hop a plane, Missakian said. The US attorney noted that Alfozan had already booked a one-way ticket for him, his wife, and their baby to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia’s capital. That ticket was allegedly “paid for by the Saudi government.”

米萨基安称，鉴于有如此多的证据，身为沙特公民及美国永久居民的阿尔福赞存在潜逃风险，且似乎得到了沙特政府源源不断的支持。米萨基安表示，FBI 在阿尔福赞登机前几天将其逮捕。这位美国检察官指出，阿尔福赞此前已为自己、妻子和孩子预订了前往沙特首都利雅得的单程机票。据称，该机票由“沙特政府支付”。

Following his arrest, his wife and son booked a sooner flight and immediately left the US without him. Once again, the US found “a member of the Saudi military booked and paid for yet another one-way ticket for the defendant’s wife and son, this one business class to Doha, Qatar.” After receiving “significant compensation from a decade of high-tech employment in the Bay Area,” Alfozan has “ample resources” to run away to Saudi Arabia, the US government alleged. He also has “at least two bank accounts in Saudi Arabia,” the government said.

在他被捕后，他的妻子和儿子预订了更早的航班，并在没有他的情况下立即离开了美国。美国方面再次发现，“一名沙特军方人员为被告的妻子和儿子预订并支付了另一张单程机票，这次是前往卡塔尔多哈的商务舱机票。”美国政府称，在“从湾区十年的高科技工作中获得丰厚报酬”后，阿尔福赞有“充足的资源”逃往沙特。政府还表示，他在沙特“至少有两个银行账户”。

To support their request to detain Alfozan, the government pointed to a case where former Twitter employees were charged with spying for the Saudi government. Charges are still pending against one of the ex-Twitter staffers, Ali Alzabarah, the US said, partly because “a Saudi foreign official” helped “coordinate a next-day flight to Saudi Arabia” shortly after Twitter confronted him. Because Alfozan would presumably have “little incentive to remain in the United States to see this case through,” Missakian asked the court to order his detention pending trial.

为了支持拘留阿尔福赞的请求，政府提到了前推特（Twitter）员工被指控为沙特政府从事间谍活动的案件。美国方面表示，针对前推特员工阿里·阿尔扎巴拉（Ali Alzabarah）的指控仍在审理中，部分原因是他在推特与其对质后不久，就有“一名沙特外国官员”协助“协调了次日飞往沙特的航班”。由于阿尔福赞被认为“几乎没有动力留在美国等待案件审理”，米萨基安请求法院下令在审判前将其拘留。

“Although FBI agents seized the defendant’s Saudi passport when they arrested him, there is nothing to stop the defendant, if he is released, from obtaining any necessary travel documents and fleeing the United States—with or without the help of a foreign government that has previously assisted its citizens depart the United States under similar circumstances,” Missakian’s filing argued. On Monday, Magistrate Judge Alex G. Tse agreed at a hearing that Alfozan should remain detained while mounting his defense, Business Insider reported.

米萨基安在文件中辩称：“尽管 FBI 特工在逮捕被告时扣押了他的沙特护照，但如果他被释放，没有任何东西能阻止他获取必要的旅行证件并逃离美国——无论是否有曾协助其公民在类似情况下离开美国的外国政府的帮助。”据《商业内幕》报道，周一，地方法官亚历克斯·G·谢（Alex G. Tse）在听证会上同意阿尔福赞应在准备辩护期间继续被拘留。

Alfozan’s alleged escape plan When Alfozan was arrested, he was living at home with his family in California. Since moving to the US in 2009, he’d received technical degrees from MIT and UC Berkeley. After more than a decade working in Silicon Valley, OpenAI eventually hired him “as an engineer in or around July 2025 with an annual base salary of $325,000,” the government’s court filing said. He also got “a new hire equity grant of $2,200,000 in profit participation units.”

阿尔福赞的所谓逃跑计划：阿尔福赞被捕时，正与家人住在加利福尼亚州的家中。自 2009 年移居美国以来，他获得了麻省理工学院和加州大学伯克利分校的技术学位。据政府法庭文件显示，在硅谷工作十多年后，OpenAI 最终于 2025 年 7 月左右聘用他为工程师，基本年薪为 32.5 万美元。他还获得了“价值 220 万美元的利润参与单位作为新员工股权激励”。

Allegedly, Alfozan’s scheming against OpenAI started in the months after his hiring. Without detecting anything was amiss, OpenAI was preparing to grant Alfozan parental leave. His wife’s student visa had expired, and he planned to use his two months of paid time off to help her permanently move back to Saudi Arabia with their baby, the US filing said. But he didn’t make the flight. About two weeks prior to the booking, OpenAI found a recording device hidden in a conference room.

据称，阿尔福赞针对 OpenAI 的阴谋始于他入职后的几个月内。在未察觉任何异常的情况下，OpenAI 正准备批准阿尔福赞的育儿假。美国法庭文件称，他妻子的学生签证已经过期，他计划利用两个月的带薪假期帮助她带着孩子永久搬回沙特。但他没能赶上那次航班。在预订日期前约两周，OpenAI 在一间会议室里发现了一个隐藏的录音设备。

That device, the US court filing confirmed, was there for “at least multiple days” and had been in place during a top-secret meeting with US government officials. “In the days surrounding the time period that the device was installed, OpenAI executives met with government officials in that very room,” the filing said. “Defendant’s conduct could pose a danger to the national security of the United States.”

美国法庭文件证实，该设备在那里放置了“至少数天”，并且在与美国政府官员举行绝密会议期间一直处于工作状态。文件中写道：“在安装该设备的期间前后，OpenAI 高管就在那间会议室里与政府官员会面。被告的行为可能对美国国家安全构成威胁。”

In their complaint, the US alleged that Alfozan used an OpenAI productivity agent to research which conference rooms might be best exploited for his spying. Logs suggested that he also used his wife’s personal ChatGPT account to research ways to modify his covert recording devices so they would auto-record when detecting speech and allow remote access controls. After his arrest, Alfozan refused to speak to the FBI, requesting his attorney. However, his wife confirmed that she had seen her ChatGPT account open on his laptop when asked about her plan to move back to Saudi Arabia, the government’s filing said.

在起诉书中，美国方面指控阿尔福赞利用 OpenAI 的生产力代理工具研究哪些会议室最适合进行间谍活动。日志显示，他还使用妻子的个人 ChatGPT 账户研究如何改装其隐蔽录音设备，使其在检测到语音时自动录音并允许远程访问控制。被捕后，阿尔福赞拒绝与 FBI 交谈，并要求见律师。然而，政府文件称，当被问及搬回沙特的计划时，他的妻子证实她曾在他的笔记本电脑上看到过自己的 ChatGPT 账户处于登录状态。

FBI uncovers “Saudi Gov Docs” folder The government’s motion for Alfozan’s detention included more details than previously reported from the search of Alfozan’s house. In addition to finding recording devices similar to the ones planted in OpenAI offices, the FBI allegedly found evidence that Alfozan had planted at least one other bug. Photos on Alfozan’s iPhone depicted “at least one additional concealed recording device as well as what appear to be the input/output panels on televisions and other electronic devices in various locations in OpenAI buildings, including another conference room where sensitive meetings frequently occurred,” the filing said.

FBI 发现“沙特政府文件”文件夹：政府针对阿尔福赞的拘留动议中包含了比此前报道更多的搜查细节。除了发现与 OpenAI 办公室中安装的类似的录音设备外，FBI 据称还发现了阿尔福赞安装了至少另一个窃听器的证据。文件称，阿尔福赞 iPhone 上的照片显示了“至少一个额外的隐藏录音设备，以及 OpenAI 大楼内多个地点的电视和其他电子设备的输入/输出面板，其中包括另一个经常举行敏感会议的会议室”。

OpenAI and the US government are both aware that Saudi Arabia has dedicated this entire year to advancing its AI through an effort called “Vision 2030.” Sam Altman himself joined Donald Trump at a summit where the Saudi governm

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