A former OpenAI engineer accused of planting a recording device in a company conference room must stay in jail while he awaits trial, a federal magistrate judge in San Francisco ruled Monday, CNBC and WIRED reported.

Judge Alex Tse said there is a "significant" risk that Abdulrahman Alfozan, 35, would flee, CNBC reported. Prosecutors say he hid the device in a television in an executive conference room at OpenAI's headquarters on Sept. 28.

Tse sharply questioned an offer by the Saudi Consulate in Los Angeles to cover Alfozan's bail. "I find that problematic," Tse said. "It seems like a blank check," he said, WIRED reported. He said he was more interested in family members putting up assets. Saudi Arabia has no extradition treaty with the United States, and the judge noted Alfozan would not need to get that far. "He just has to go to Canada or Mexico," Tse said, CNBC reported.

Alfozan is charged with using or trying to use a device to intercept oral communications, which carries up to five years in prison, CNBC reported. He has not been convicted. OpenAI has fired him. He is due back in court Nov. 6.

Prosecutors pointed to his ties to Saudi Arabia, including that his wife and 3-month-old son left the country soon after his arrest, CNBC reported. In a filing, they said the alleged bugging "could pose a danger to the national security of the United States" and noted that OpenAI executives had met with government officials in the same room, according to CNBC.

His lawyer, William Pernik, called the flight-risk concerns baseless and said there is no evidence Alfozan spied for Saudi Arabia. "This was an open room where anybody could work in," Pernik said, WIRED reported. He said he would keep fighting the ruling. Authorities have not offered a motive, WIRED reported. Alfozan is a U.S. permanent resident.

What we know: Alfozan stays in custody, is charged but not convicted, and returns to court Nov. 6.
What we don't: Why prosecutors say he planted the device, as no motive has been given.