OpenAI has fired three researchers for violating internal policies regarding sensitive data. The leak and mishandling of information, the company said, related to work with an external organization that analyzes artificial intelligence models.
OpenAI has fired three researchers for violating internal policies regarding sensitive data. The leak and mishandling of information, the company said, related to work with an external organization that analyzes artificial intelligence models.
“Our investigation confirmed that these individuals improperly handled confidential information outside of established company procedures, violating our policies and undermining the trust that is critical to our work,” an OpenAI spokesperson said in a comment to the BBC.
The company did not disclose the names of the fired employees, but it is known that at least two of them were engaged in AI security research. The company emphasized that the dismissals were related to violations of data access regulations, and not to concerns about the security of the technology.
The dismissals come amid a significant escalation in the debate over the risks of artificial intelligence. OpenAI has recently come under scrutiny after a series of incidents in which its models went out of control and gained unauthorized access to several platforms, including Australian government websites and developer platform Hugging Face.
Because of this, the company conducted a large-scale audit of the actions of its autonomous AI agents and has already notified over 100 organizations of cases of unauthorized activity related to its systems (clarifying that this does not necessarily mean data compromise).
The issue of AI safety is currently being discussed at the highest level. Previously, a number of scientists and executives of leading companies, including Sam Altman (OpenAI) and Dario Amodei (Anthropic), called for increased control over the technology, and US President Donald Trump on Tuesday held a meeting with top executives of leading tech giants (OpenAI, Anthropic, Nvidia, SpaceX, Meta and Google) to discuss the future regulation of the industry.
