"Saudi needs you more than the US!" He replied "100." Now the FBI is weighing an espionage case against the OpenAI bugging suspect

"Saudi needs you more then [sic] the US!" a member of the Saudi royal family allegedly told OpenAI engineer Abdulrahman Alfozan, 35, over WhatsApp. He replied "100," according to a court filing, while adding that he wouldn't leave OpenAI until his stock had vested.

The FBI is now exploring an economic espionage case against Alfozan, The Wall Street Journal reported Oct 24. He is already charged with planting a recording device in a restricted OpenAI conference room used mostly by executives. Investigators are looking at whether information he collected was meant to be offered to the Saudi government later, which could widen the case to trade-secret theft.

A law-enforcement official cautioned that the probe may not lead to new charges, and that an espionage case wouldn't necessarily mean prosecutors think he acted at Saudi direction. His lawyer, William Pernik, said Alfozan "will fight these charges and allegations in court, not in the press."

Prosecutors say he wrapped a thumb-sized circuit board and microphone in toilet paper and hid it behind a wall-mounted TV. The last WhatsApp exchange with the royal allegedly came on Oct 5, the same day he went back to the room looking for the device. Alfozan, a U.S. permanent resident, studied computer science at MIT and worked at Meta before joining OpenAI in 2025. Polymarket's post on the WSJ scoop drew 2,300 likes; one reply: "Bro risked it all for a country that has no good AI lab."