OpenAI Fires 3 Safety Researchers in Dispute Over AI Risks

OpenAI has fired three safety researchers, Tomek Korbak, Jasmine Wang, and Mikita Balesni, for a "breach of trust." According to OpenAI, the researchers violated clear policies on handling sensitive information. The firings were first reported by The Wall Street Journal.

The researchers had accused OpenAI of putting its corporate interests before safety, prompting their removal. In a letter to OpenAI's safety oversight groups, they expressed concerns that internal and external communications about their dismissals have chilled the company's culture, which previously encouraged open discussion of safety concerns.

The researchers had urged OpenAI to allow third-party safety monitors inside the company and to preserve the ability to monitor rapidly advancing frontier AI models that could pose unknown risks. Their firings are the latest sign of turmoil inside leading AI companies over the safety of the technology.

Brief written by urgent.news from SecurityWeek, Japan Today, Fast Company, Global News — 4 reports on this story. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.