The letter, which was obtained completely by The Washington Put up, was written by Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), asking OpenAI’s chief government, Sam Altman, to stipulate what adjustments it has made to its worker agreements to make sure these wishing to boost considerations about OpenAI to federal regulators can accomplish that with out penalty. The letter comes after worker warnings that OpenAI rushed via security testing of its newest AI mannequin, which have been detailed in The Put up 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 instructing 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 Put up’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 timeframe, and sped via 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 irritating for our groups,” OpenAI spokesperson Liz Bourgeois mentioned in an earlier assertion to The Put up.
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 they’d filed a grievance with the company alleging the corporate illegally issued restrictive severance, nondisclosure and worker agreements, doubtlessly penalizing staff who wished to boost considerations to federal regulators. Hannah Wong, an OpenAI spokesperson, mentioned in a press release in July that the corporate has “made vital adjustments to our departure course of to take away nondisparagement phrases.”
“OpenAI’s whistleblower coverage protects workers’ rights to boost 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 have now since up to date our paperwork accordingly.”
The speedy advance of synthetic intelligence has sharpened policymakers’ considerations in regards to the energy of the tech business, prompting a flood of requires regulation. In the US, AI firms are largely working in a authorized vacuum, and policymakers say they can’t successfully create new AI insurance policies with out the assistance of whistleblowers, who may 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 workers spoke with OpenAI workers twice in July to request information about its worker agreements.
Clare Slattery, a spokesperson for Grassley, mentioned the senator’s workers requested for numerous paperwork concerning the corporate’s previous and present employment agreements, however OpenAI has not offered them as of but.
Grassley additionally cited The Put up’s reporting in July, the place an OpenAI consultant mentioned it had “squeezed” its security testing of GPT-4 Omni into every week, as proof of why workers should be capable to increase points freely to federal regulators.
“In keeping with 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 best (though it was by no means used) to cancel vested fairness” for former workers who raised considerations in regards to 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 in regards to 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 boost considerations with federal authorities, in line with Grassley’s letter, and determine if the corporate is underneath investigation from the Securities and Trade Fee.
The corporate has till Aug. 15 to reply.
Cat Zakrzewski contributed to this report.
