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Abdulrahman Alfozan, 35, a Saudi national and former OpenAI worker, entered a not guilty plea Friday in San Francisco federal court to a charge of intercepting oral communications. He was indicted by a grand jury on Oct. 27 and remains jailed without bail since his October arrest, and was returned to custody after the hearing.
In San Francisco, some dating app users are adding statements about artificial intelligence to their profiles, including explicit rejections such as 'Fuck AI' or warnings not to date them if they use AI. Interviews across parties, coworking spaces and dating profiles found people treating AI attitudes as a values signal similar to political affiliation, while others wrestle with the ethics and practicalities of dating someone who works in the AI industry.
A Microsoft employee recounts sneaking into the empty upper level of San Francisco's Civic Auditorium before the Windows 2000 launch event, watching staff rehearse the show. The rehearsal featured a giant mock-laptop stage prop, video montages, and an announcement revealing actor Patrick Stewart as the event's celebrity host.
AI startup Dimensional is hiring people in the Bay Area to walk its robot dogs through city streets for four- to six-hour shifts at $20 an hour, according to The New York Times. The dogs, roughly 33-pound Unitree units of which Dimensional owns more than 100, are fitted with cameras and sensors that record the walks, and walkers must be prepared to carry the robot back if it overheats.
Record-high king tides this week caused flooding along San Francisco's coastline, according to experts cited in the report. Officials warn these are not yet the year's highest tides, with more severe flooding expected once El Niño-driven winter storms arrive.
A reviewer tested the Lykyn, a $300 acrylic mushroom-growing chamber made in Turkey and shipped free from Istanbul, arriving in 11 days with an optional $15 engraved handle. The 13x13x15-inch unit requires assembly of acrylic panels, distilled water filling, Wi-Fi connectivity, and a USB-C powered LED light and ultrasonic humidifier, with the reviewer noting the sliding door panel was difficult to install.
A federal magistrate judge ruled that Abdulrahman Alfozan, a former OpenAI engineer accused of planting recording devices in a company conference room, must remain in custody until his trial. Prosecutors argued he poses a flight risk, citing an offer from the Saudi consulate to help fund his bail through a bonds firm. Alfozan's attorney countered that there is no evidence of espionage and called the flight-risk concerns unfounded.
The September 18 San Francisco event pitted influencer Frankie LaPenna against three remotely operated humanoid robots in MMA-style bouts, with LaPenna winning two of three matches. California officials have now said the event was held illegally, raising the possibility of legal consequences for organizers if they attempt to stage a repeat.
The Justice Department announced charges against Abdulrahman Alfozan, a 35-year-old former OpenAI employee from Saudi Arabia, after the company discovered a hidden recording device in a conference room at its San Francisco office. OpenAI says it used its own AI models to trace the device back to Alfozan, who had planted it days earlier, and the FBI arrested him on October 9.
A passenger riding in a Tesla robotaxi in the Bay Area recorded the vehicle repeatedly emitting flatulent sounds through its novelty 'emissions testing' feature, unable to be turned off. The human safety driver on board, required since Tesla's robotaxis aren't yet licensed in California, told the passenger he had been adjusting settings and lost control of the function, including the volume.
Federal prosecutors have charged Abdulrahman Alfozan, a 35-year-old Saudi national who worked as an OpenAI engineer since July 2025, with planting a hidden recording device in an executive meeting room at the company's San Francisco office. OpenAI's security team discovered the encrypted device, built from a $13.99 Seeed XIAO ESP32-S3 board, around September 30, and later found a second similar device along with Alfozan's wallet in a bag he left behind. He was arrested on October 9 and appeared in federal court on October 13 facing charges of attempting to intercept oral communications.
Federal prosecutors allege that Abdulrahman Alfozan, a 35-year-old OpenAI engineer, hid an audio recording device wrapped in toilet paper behind a monitor in an executive conference room at the company's San Francisco office. He allegedly used internal AI chatbot tools to research the room's meeting schedule and to get technical guidance on building the covert device, and a second recording device was reportedly found in his bag. OpenAI fired Alfozan last Friday, and he faces a federal charge of illegally intercepting oral communications, which carries up to five years in prison.