Disclaimer: The following article relies on AI transcriptions and an English translation of a podcast recorded primarily in Arabic. The exact translation may vary.

Abdulrahman Alfozan, the OpenAI engineer arrested and charged for planting a covert listening device inside OpenAI’s offices, recounted on an Arabic podcast that he decided to continue working in America after listening to Saudi Prince Mohammed Bin Salman.

In an Arabic interview on the podcast IdentityCapital, published on September 24, 2026 — the same day a chatbot account linked to him was prompted with questions about building and installing audio recording devices, according to the SF Standard — Alfozan spoke of an internal dilemma he faced in 2016: whether to return to Saudi Arabia or stay in the United States. (While the interview was published in September, the likely recording date is in 2024.)

Alfozan is a Saudi Arabian national. He moved to the United States in 2010 for a preparatory year and went on to study Computer Science and Engineering at MIT in 2011. He graduated in 2016.

On the podcast, Alfozan recounted attending an event in Silicon Valley that featured Saudi Prince Mohammad Bin Salman in 2016. At that event, per Alfozan, the Prince gave him clarity on the path forward for his career. Alfozan says:

Get 14 day free trial