OpenAI upholds firing of safety researchers

Three fired OpenAI safety researchers say their terminations are spreading fear among remaining staff and could deter employees from flagging safety issues. In an open letter to OpenAI's Safety and Security Committee, Safety Advisory Group and Mission Advisory Council, Tomek Korbak, Jasmine Wang and Mikita Balesni deny being the source of a leak to The Information and demand that OpenAI embed external auditors like METR with employee-level access, preserve frontier model monitorability, and define how staff may work with outside safety groups. OpenAI says a thorough investigation found the three violated clear policies on handling sensitive information and that it does not terminate employees for raising concerns, without specifying the additional breach it cited.

OpenAI is standing firm on its decision to fire three safety researchers after an internal investigation found they committed a significant breach of trust. In a post on X on Friday.