The letter, which was obtained solely by The Washington Publish, was written by Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), asking OpenAI’s chief government, Sam Altman, to stipulate what modifications it has made to its worker agreements to make sure these wishing to lift considerations about OpenAI to federal regulators can achieve this with out penalty. The letter comes after worker warnings that OpenAI rushed by security testing of its newest AI mannequin, which had been detailed in The Publish final month.
Grassley’s letter comes simply a number of days after 5 senators — 4 democrats and an impartial — despatched Altman a letter demanding details about how the corporate would meet its “public commitments” to make sure its AI expertise doesn’t trigger hurt, similar to by educating customers to construct bioweapons or serving to hackers develop new sorts of cyberattacks.
It additionally comes amid worker considerations that OpenAI is placing revenue earlier than security in creating its expertise. Grassley’s letter cites The Publish’s July report detailing how OpenAI rushed out its newest AI mannequin, GPT-4 Omni, to satisfy a Could launch date. Firm leaders moved forward with the launch regardless of worker considerations about the time-frame, and sped by complete security testing, undermining a July 2023 security pledge to the White Home. “We didn’t minimize corners on our security course of, although we acknowledge the launch was traumatic for our groups,” OpenAI spokesperson Liz Bourgeois mentioned in an earlier assertion to The Publish.
Grassley’s letter additionally provides to the controversy OpenAI has confronted round whether or not it’s silencing its workers from sharing considerations to federal authorities. In a July letter to the Securities and Trade Fee, OpenAI whistleblowers mentioned that they had filed a criticism with the company alleging the corporate illegally issued restrictive severance, nondisclosure and worker agreements, doubtlessly penalizing staff who wished to lift considerations to federal regulators. Hannah Wong, an OpenAI spokesperson, mentioned in a press release in July that the corporate has “made necessary modifications to our departure course of to take away nondisparagement phrases.”
“OpenAI’s whistleblower coverage protects workers’ rights to lift points together with to any nationwide, federal, state, or native authorities company,” Bourgeois mentioned in response to Grassley’s letter. “We voided non-disparagement provisions for all present and former workers again in Could and we’ve since up to date our paperwork accordingly.”
The fast advance of synthetic intelligence has sharpened policymakers’ considerations concerning the energy of the tech business, prompting a flood of requires regulation. In america, AI corporations are largely working in a authorized vacuum, and policymakers say they can not successfully create new AI insurance policies with out the assistance of whistleblowers, who will help clarify the potential threats posed by the fast-moving expertise.
Grassley mentioned “it’s essential OpenAI guarantee its workers can present protected disclosures with out unlawful restrictions,” including that his employees spoke with OpenAI workers twice in July to request information about its worker agreements.
Clare Slattery, a spokesperson for Grassley, mentioned the senator’s employees requested for numerous paperwork relating to the corporate’s previous and present employment agreements, however OpenAI has not offered them as of but.
Grassley additionally cited The Publish’s reporting in July, the place an OpenAI consultant mentioned it had “squeezed” its security testing of GPT-4 Omni into per week, as proof of why workers should be capable of increase points freely to federal regulators.
“Based on the article, this incident prompted a number of present and former OpenAI workers to talk out,” Grassley mentioned, and added that it “highlighted the harms of restrictive NDAs within the AI sector, particularly at OpenAI.”
In a press release on X on Thursday, Altman mentioned that “we wish present and former workers to have the ability to increase considerations and really feel snug doing so.” He mentioned the corporate in Could “voided nondisparagement phrases for present and former workers and provisions that gave OpenAI the precise (though it was by no means used) to cancel vested fairness” for former workers who raised considerations concerning the firm, or spoke out about their expertise.
OpenAI on Wednesday additionally responded to the 5 senators, led by Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), who requested for particulars concerning the firm’s efforts to safeguard its expertise. In its response letter, the corporate mentioned it consulted greater than 100 exterior consultants to evaluate dangers from GPT-4 Omni.
OpenAI should element what number of instances workers have requested the corporate to lift considerations with federal authorities, in line with Grassley’s letter, and determine if the corporate is below investigation from the Securities and Trade Fee.
The corporate has till Aug. 15 to reply.
Cat Zakrzewski contributed to this report.
