Lawyer of arrested OpenAI engineer says allegations are ‘wholly out of character,’ one-way ticket to Saudi Arabia with wife and child was pre-booked

The attorney for the former OpenAI employee accused of planting a recording device in the company’s San Francisco headquarters is calling the allegations “wholly out of character,” insisting his client’s flight to Saudi Arabia was pre-booked, and urging the public not to jump to conclusions about the suspect’s Saudi nationality.

William Pernik, who represents the suspect Abdulrahman Alfozan, admits that his information was still “limited” and says he plans to respond more fully “in court of law” once he has full information.

The next court appearance is set for Oct.

19.

Alfozan, along with his wife and small child, was set to travel from San Francisco to Saudi Arabia on a one-way flight on Oct.

12; the federal complaint suggests that Alfozan may have been planning to use that trip to “flee” the U.S.

The flight was “prepaid,” and Alfozan was “surprised by the search and arrest,” according to Pernik.

The reason for the flight and the date it was booked remain unknown.

Still, Pernik insists that “the allegations appear wholly out of character for this gentleman.” Alfozan is a Saudi national and has been a legal permanent resident of the U.S. since 2020, according to the FBI complaint.

He has lived and worked in the U.S. since 2011, when he enrolled in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s computer science program.

The FBI highlighted Alfozan’s Saudi nationality in its press release announcing the arrest.

Yet Pernik urges the public to “refrain from jumping to conclusions based on the nature of the allegation or our client’s national origin, which seems to be the focal point of attention, despite many years spent living, studying, and raising his family here, like millions of other immigrants.” Alfozan’s work history features well-known tech companies, including internships at SAP and Microsoft , as well as a five-year stint at Meta .

He then founded his own startup in Silicon Valley, and joined OpenAI in July 2025, OpenAI told Fortune.

Alfozan also joined a Saudi-based venture capital firm , RAED Ventures, as a partner in 2025.