OpenAI terminated the three employees on Oct. 1 after an internal investigation found they mishandled sensitive data, including infrastructure architecture, the Wall Street Journal reported. In their letter, the dismissed staff asserted that they never exceeded their professional duties, noting that Korbak acted as a technical contact for the METR organization and Balesni helped the board draft an industry safety pledge. OpenAI has denied that the terminations were related to the employees raising safety concerns.
Tuesday, October 20, 2026
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Fired OpenAI Researchers Urge Board to Halt Hard-to-Monitor AI
AI13 days ago
Jasmine Wang, Tomek Korbak, and Mikita Balesni recently asked the OpenAI leadership to rethink its technical trajectory in a letter sent to the company board on Wednesday. The former safety researchers argued that OpenAI and its industry rivals should stop pursuing the development of models whose reasoning is difficult to monitor and audit. The trio also claimed that their recent dismissals have created a "chilling" atmosphere for employees who remain at the firm.
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