OpenAI fires three researchers over misuse of sensitive information

OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT, has dismissed three researchers for allegedly using sensitive information outside the company’s approved procedures, the San Francisco-based AI company said Thursday (October 1).

In a statement to AFP, OpenAI said it had terminated its relationship with the three employees after an internal investigation found that they had misused sensitive information outside established processes, violating company policies and undermining the trust considered essential to its work.

OpenAI did not officially identify the researchers. The Wall Street Journal, however, reported that they were Jasmine Wang, Tomek Korbak and Mykyta Balesni.

AFP said attempts to obtain comment from the three were unsuccessful.

The researchers had recently been active on X, posting views on AI safety and potential risks associated with increasingly powerful artificial intelligence systems.

The dismissals come amid growing debate over safety and governance as leading AI companies race to develop more capable models.

Last month, 27-year-old researcher Jacob Kossen resigned from AI company Anthropic and warned that leading AI firms, including OpenAI, were “gambling with our lives” in their competition to build increasingly powerful systems.