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
Source: Fortune ·
The arrest was a "surprise," said the attorney, and the suspect, Abdulrahman Alfozan, was "proud" to be an OpenAI employee.
From the source
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…