OpenAI should turn over documents proving it does not silence employees who wish to share concerns with federal regulators about how the artificial intelligence company is developing its tools, a senior senate Republican demanded in a Thursday letter, showing growing bipartisan pressure against OpenAI to detail steps it is taking to make sure its AI is developed safely.
The letter, which was obtained exclusively by The Washington Post, was written by Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), asking OpenAI’s chief executive, Sam Altman, to outline what changes it has made to its employee agreements to ensure those wishing to raise concerns about OpenAI to federal regulators can do so without penalty. The letter comes after employee warnings that OpenAI rushed through safety testing of its latest AI model, which were detailed inThe Post last month.
Grassley’s letter comes just several days after five senators — four democrats and an independent — sent Altman a letterdemanding information about how the company would meet its “public commitments” to ensure its AI technology does not cause harm, such as by teaching users to build bioweapons or helping hackers develop new kinds of cyberattacks.
It also comes amid employee concerns that OpenAI is putting profit before safety in creating its technology. Grassley’s letter cites The Post’s July report detailing how OpenAI rushed out its latest AI model, GPT-4 Omni, to meet a May release date. Company leaders moved ahead with the launch despite employee concerns about the time frame, and sped through comprehensive safety testing, undermining a July 2023 safety pledge to the White House. “We didn’t cut corners on our safety process, though we recognize the launch was stressful for our teams,” OpenAI spokesperson Liz Bourgeois said in an earlier statement to The Post.
Grassley’s letter also adds to the controversy OpenAI has faced around whether it is silencing its employees from sharing concerns to federal authorities. In a July letter to the Securities and Exchange Commission, OpenAI whistleblowers said they had filed a complaint with the agency alleging the company illegally issued restrictive severance, nondisclosure and employee agreements, potentially penalizing workers who wished to raise concerns to federal regulators. Hannah Wong, an OpenAI spokesperson, said in a statement in July that the company has “made important changes to our departure process to remove nondisparagement terms.”
“OpenAI’s whistleblower policy protects employees’ rights to raise issues including to any national, federal, state, or local government agency,” Bourgeois said in response to Grassley’s letter. “We voided non-disparagement provisions for all current and former employees back in May and we have since updated our documents accordingly.”
The rapid advance of artificial intelligence has sharpened policymakers’ concerns about the power of the tech industry, prompting a flood of calls for regulation. In the United States, AI companies are largely operating in a legal vacuum, and policymakers say they cannot effectively create new AI policies without the help of whistleblowers, who can help explain the potential threats posed by the fast-moving technology.
Grassley said “it is crucial OpenAI ensure its employees can provide protected disclosures without illegal restrictions,” adding that his staff spoke with OpenAI employees twice in July to request records about its employee agreements.
Clare Slattery, a spokesperson for Grassley, said the senator’s staff asked for various documents regarding the company’s past and current employment agreements, but OpenAI has not provided them as of yet.
Grassley also cited The Post’s reporting in July, where an OpenAI representative said it had “squeezed” its safety testing of GPT-4 Omni into a week, as evidence of why employees must be able to raise issues freely to federal regulators.
“According to the article, this incident prompted several current and former OpenAI employees to speak out,” Grassley said, and added that it “highlighted the harms of restrictive NDAs in the AI sector, specifically at OpenAI.”
In a statement on X on Thursday, Altman said that “we want current and former employees to be able to raise concerns and feel comfortable doing so.” He said the company in May “voided nondisparagement terms for current and former employees and provisions that gave OpenAI the right (although it was never used) to cancel vested equity” for former employees who raised concerns about the company, or spoke out about their experience.
OpenAI on Wednesday also responded to the five senators, led by Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), who asked for details about the company’s efforts to safeguard its technology.In its response letter, the company said it consulted more than 100 external experts to assess risks from GPT-4 Omni.
OpenAI must detail how many times employees have asked the company to raise concerns with federal authorities, according to Grassley’s letter, and identify if the company is under investigation from the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The company has until Aug. 15 to respond.
Cat Zakrzewski contributed to this report.