AI Workers Demand Stronger Whistleblower Protections in Open Letter

A group of current and former employees from leading AI companies such as OpenAI, Google DeepMind and Anthropic signed an agreement open letter calling for greater transparency and protection from retaliation for those who speak out about potential AI concerns. “Until there is effective government oversight of these companies, current and former employees will be among the few people who can hold them accountable to the public,” says the letter, published on Tuesday. “However, broad confidentiality agreements prevent us from expressing our concerns except to the companies themselves who may not be addressing these issues.”

The letter arrives just a few weeks after a Vox investigation revealed that OpenAI attempted to muzzle recently departed employees, forcing them to choose between signing an aggressive non-disparagement agreement or risking losing the equity they gained in the company. Following the report, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman he said that he was genuinely embarrassed” by the provision and claimed it was removed from recent exit documentation, although it is unclear whether it remains in effect for some employees.

The 13 signatories include former OpenAI employees Jacob Hinton, William Saunders and Daniel Kokotajlo. Kokotajlo he said that he resigned from the company after losing confidence that it would responsibly build artificial general intelligence, a term for AI systems that are as smart as or smarter than humans. The letter – which was endorsed by prominent AI experts Geoffrey Hinton, Yoshua Bengio and Stuart Russell – expresses serious concerns about the lack of effective government oversight of AI and the financial incentives that drive tech giants to invest in the technology. The authors warn that the unbridled pursuit of powerful AI systems could lead to the spread of misinformation, the exacerbation of inequality and even the loss of human control over autonomous systems, potentially resulting in human extinction.

“There is a lot we don’t understand about how these systems work and whether they will remain aligned with human interests as they become more intelligent and possibly surpass human-level intelligence in all areas,” he wrote Kokotajlo on X. “Meanwhile, there is little to no oversight over this technology. Instead, we trust the companies that build them to govern themselves, even when profit motives and enthusiasm for technology lead them to “move quickly and break things.” Silencing investigators and making them fear retaliation is dangerous when we are currently one of the only people in a position to warn the public.”

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OpenAI, Google and Anthropic did not immediately respond to Engadget’s request for comment. On a declaration sent to Bloomberg, an OpenAI spokesperson said the company is proud of its “track record of delivering the most capable and secure AI systems” and believes in its “scientific approach to dealing with risk.” He added: “We agree that rigorous debate is crucial given the importance of this technology and we will continue to collaborate with governments, civil society and other communities around the world.”

The signatories call on AI companies to commit to four fundamental principles:

• Refrain from retaliating against employees who express safety concerns

• Support an anonymous system for whistleblowers to alert the public and regulators to risks

• Enabling a culture of open criticism

• And avoid non-disparagement or non-disclosure agreements that restrict employees from speaking out

The letter comes amid growing scrutiny of OpenAI’s practices, including the dissolution of your “super-aligned” security team and the match of key figures such as co-founder Ilya Sutskever and Jan Leike, who criticized the company’s prioritization of “brilliant products” over safety.