As AI race heats up, so does battle for talent: What does OpenAI bug-planting case and Saudi royal family links reveal

Earlier this month, OpenAI engineer Abdulrahman Alfozan was arrested and dismissed after allegedly placing a “sophisticated recording device” in an executive conference room he was not authorised to enter. US prosecutors later alleged that the Saudi national had been in contact with a member of the Saudi royal family about an AI-related job opportunity and had booked a flight to Saudi Arabia scheduled to depart on 12 October, three days after he was arrested. The development comes at a time when the race for artificial intelligence (AI) is gathering pace, but alongside it, another race is picking up momentum: a battle for the people who are building it, with tech companies and governments competing to attract talent.