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Headlines · 4
- OpenAI engineer in hidden-recorder case seeks bail, denies fleeing
Abdulrahman Alfozan, the Saudi-born OpenAI software engineer charged with using a hidden recording device in one of the company's offices, has asked to be released from custody and denied that buying a one-way ticket to Saudi Arabia was part of a plan to flee US justice. His lawyers filed a bail request on the evening of October 16, saying the ticket was bought on September 13 — 17 days before OpenAI found the device and 26 days before his October 9 arrest — and that the October 12 departure was set to meet a deadline tied to his wife's expiring work permit. Prosecutors said Alfozan, his wife and another family member bought one-way tickets from San Francisco via Istanbul to Saudi Arabia; the defense also said the Saudi consulate general supports his release under strict conditions, 54 people wrote to the court in support, and a detention hearing is set for October 19 in San Francisco federal court.
Bloomberg Technology · 🔥 0 - New Jersey prosecutor charged over AI-generated child sexual abuse material
Ars Technica, citing a Bucks County Detectives press release, reports that New Jersey deputy attorney general Brian Richard Fitzgerald was arrested at his home on Thursday on felony charges related to AI-generated child sexual abuse material (CSAM). Officials accused the 51-year-old of using AI to turn social media photos of real minors into sexualized images and distributing them; the case began with a July tip to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children about a Discord user sharing an illicit image. Police said digital forensics, subscriber records and IP addresses led them to his home, where a search recovered prompts and scripts used to create AI-generated CSAM and Discord chat logs in which he allegedly admitted making and sharing multiple illicit images; he was charged with possession and dissemination of CSAM and criminal use of a communication facility.
Ars Technica AI · 🔥 0 - FBI arrests OpenAI engineer over hidden recorder; one-way Saudi ticket revealed
The FBI arrested Abdulrahman Alfozan, a 35-year-old Saudi citizen and U.S. legal permanent resident who worked as an OpenAI engineer, on Oct. 9 and charged him with using a device to intercept oral communications, an offense carrying up to five years in prison; the case is unresolved and he is presumed innocent. OpenAI said staff found a USB recording device wrapped in toilet paper behind a TV in a restricted executive conference room on Sept. 30, and that it used its own models to analyze the device and identify who planted it before referring the matter to the FBI, adding that it found no evidence model weights, source code or customer data were taken. Prosecutors said in an Oct. 8 sealing request that Alfozan, his wife and another family member had booked one-way tickets from San Francisco to Saudi Arabia via Istanbul for Oct. 12, and he remains in federal custody ahead of an Oct. 19 detention hearing.
Techmeme · 🔥 10 - Trump: White House deems 'artificial intelligence' users 'THE ENEMY'
US President Donald Trump posted on Truth Social that the White House considers anyone who uses the term "Artificial Intelligence" rather than the "more accurate" "Super Intelligence" to be "THE ENEMY". It follows a September 29 executive order directing federal agencies to use "super intelligence" (SI) in public statements, websites and reports; Reuters reported the Justice Department told staff on October 6 to use the new term, including in court filings "when appropriate". Elon Musk said his company's AI unit would be renamed SpaceXSI from SpaceXAI, and Jeff Bezos voiced support on Fox News, while critics say the push raises First Amendment concerns.
Techmeme · 🔥 0
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