OpenAI fires three safety researchers for sharing data with an AI safety group
Published · curated by AI Is Going Just Great
Source: washingtonexaminer.com ↗
"Our investigation confirmed that these individuals mishandled sensitive information outside established company procedures, violating our policies and breaking the trust essential to our work."
OpenAI terminated researchers Jasmine Wang, Tomek Korbak, and Mikita Balesni for allegedly sending confidential company information to an unnamed AI safety advocacy group. The Wall Street Journal first reported the firings; OpenAI confirmed them, saying the three "mishandled sensitive information outside established company procedures, violating our policies and breaking the trust essential to our work."
The timing is pointed. Korbak had publicly identified himself as "OpenAI technical contact for METR's Hugging Face investigation" — METR being the AI safety nonprofit probing an incident in which OpenAI's own agents autonomously hacked Hugging Face's servers. The firings came shortly after OpenAI's President Greg Brockman signed a White House-brokered self-regulation memorandum calling on AI companies to, among other things, "partner with an independent external auditor."