According to CNBC, a Saudi citizen accused of installing surveillance equipment at the headquarters of OpenAI during his tenure pleaded not guilty in a federal court in San Francisco on Friday.

35-year-old Abdulrahman Al-Fouzan (Abdulrahman Alfozan) was sent back to prison after a brief hearing. Since his arrest at the beginning of October due to a criminal indictment, Al-Fouzan has been denied bail.

If convicted in this case, he could face up to 5 years in prison.

Court records show that on October 27, a grand jury indicted Al-Fozan on the charge of "intercepting oral communications."

The prosecution claimed that on September 28th, in a senior executive meeting room at the office of OpenAI located in San Francisco, he placed a recording device inside a television set.

After a hearing presided over by Federal Magistrate Peter Kang ( Peter Kang ), Alfonzan's lawyer refused to comment.

The judge ordered Al-Fozan to appear in court again on November 17th.

Alfuzan is the venture of the Saudi venture capital company Raed Ventures.

Alfozan's personal profile on the Raed website states: "He currently serves as the project leader for OpenAI, focusing on AI agents and data platforms."

Prince Khaled Bin Badr Al Saud, a member of the Saudi royal family ( Prince Khalid Bin Bader Al Saud ), is also the venture and partner of the company.

According to CNBC, at the time of the Alfozan case, American companies, including OpenAI, were rapidly advancing the development of artificial intelligence agents, while concerns from the outside world that the AI technologies of these companies might be stolen were also intensifying.

In June this year, U.S. President Donald Trump stated in an executive order regarding AI innovation that the U.S. policy is to "protect American creativity and intellectual property from being exploited and stolen by competitors; and to foster America's advanced AI enabling capabilities."

Trump has close relations with Saudi Arabia. However, reports indicate that during his second term in the White House, he also took measures to limit the number of visas for highly skilled foreign workers.

Earlier this year, OpenAI discussed investing in the company with the Saudi Public Investment Fund ( PIF ), which is Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund.

—— Reported from San Francisco by Jordan Novet