ai and ml

OpenAI shows three staff the door over alleged information misuse

Two safety researchers and a program manager dismissed, company denies retaliation for raising concerns

OpenAI has fired two safety researchers and a program manager for allegedly mishandling sensitive company information.

The ChatGPT maker confirmed the dismissals to The Register, saying an internal investigation found the trio had violated company rules governing access to and handling of confidential information.

"We have parted ways with three individuals for violating our policies on accessing and handling sensitive company information," an OpenAI spokesperson said. "Our investigation confirmed that these individuals mishandled sensitive information outside established company procedures, violating our policies and breaking the trust essential to our work."

At least some of the information was allegedly shared with an outside organization that evaluates AI systems. OpenAI said its investigation found other misconduct beyond that disclosure, but has not described it or identified the organization.

The ChatGPT creator said the employees were not dismissed for raising AI safety concerns.

The firings come after a messy few months for OpenAI's safety teams, including an incident in which one of its agents compromised infrastructure belonging to AI platform Hugging Face.