Grok takes a deep dive into the suspect in the OpenAI wiretapping case: He previously provided consulting services for Saudi entities and also served as a venture capital partner.

Beating AI News Flash: OpenAI engineer Abdulrahman Alfozan was arrested on suspicion of bugging executive meetings. X user KanekoaTheGreat used Grok to investigate his public activities over the past decade, spanning X, LinkedIn, GitHub, Hacker News, and Arabic-language interviews. The probe found the engineer has long worked at U.S. tech firms and maintained close ties with Saudi Arabia’s tech and investment sectors. As early as 2018, Alfozan gave an interview detailing how he and other Saudi engineers based in Silicon Valley gathered regularly, while also working part-time as a consultant for Saudi companies. He co-founded the Saudi Silicon Valley tech advisory project, which assists Saudi institutions in evaluating technical solutions, building data systems, and recruiting talent. The project still has a public profile listing him as a team member, noting he was then employed at Facebook with expertise in machine learning and the Internet of Things (IoT). The blogger also uncovered a promotional video released by the Saudi government during Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s U.S. visit that features Alfozan. Another notable career step: He joined Saudi venture capital firm Raed Ventures as a Venture Partner in February 2025, before moving to OpenAI that July. Raed’s website still lists him as a team member, noting he leads work on AI Agents and data platform engineering. The firm has co-invested with Sanabil Investments—part of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund—in fintech company SiFi. In September this year, Alfozan also appeared on a 93-minute Arabic podcast reviewing his career path from MIT and Meta to OpenAI.