{
  "id": 12703210,
  "title": "David Robinson says a sense of 'cognitive dissonance' led him to leave OpenAI",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/07/david-robinson-says-a-sense-of-cognitive-dissonance-led-him-to-leave",
  "topic": "ai",
  "section": "AI",
  "published": "2026-10-07T20:03:46.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Business Insider",
    "slug": "business-insider",
    "url": "https://www.businessinsider.com/david-robinson-ezra-klein-interview-cognitive-dissonance-leave-openai-2026-10"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "David Robinson left OpenAI due to a sense of cognitive dissonance, which he described as experiencing conflicting feelings. Despite OpenAI advocating for slower AI development, the company was racing ahead with its advancements, according to Robinson. He told The New York Times, \"We keep publishing these warnings, but ultimately, we're still training and deploying these dangerous models that we're warning about.\" Robinson had previously worked on OpenAI's Safety Systems team and expressed concern about the company's pace. In July, hundreds of OpenAI employees signed an open letter urging governments to regulate AI development, but in September, CEO Sam Altman echoed Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei's call for AI companies to coordinate a slowdown. Despite these warnings, Robinson noted that within OpenAI's operations, there was frenetic activity and the team was \"running on fumes.\" He emphasized the need for extreme caution, especially regarding recursive self-improvement (RSI), a process where AI builds itself. OpenAI's chief scientist, Jakub Pachocki, had previously warned about the dangers of RSI, stating, \"This is a time that calls for extreme caution.\"",
  "summary": "David Robinson said OpenAI was racing ahead with development, despite repeated warnings about the capabilities of new models.",
  "key_points": [
    "David Robinson left OpenAI due to cognitive dissonance.",
    "He felt conflicted by OpenAI's fast AI development despite warnings.",
    "Robinson previously worked on OpenAI's Safety Systems team."
  ],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}