OpenAI whistleblowers have indeed filed a complaint with the SEC, alleging that the company used overly restrictive non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) to prevent employees from raising concerns about potential risks associated with its technology.
The complaint claims that these agreements required employees to waive their rights to whistleblower compensation and to obtain the company’s consent before disclosing information to federal authorities, which would violate federal whistleblower protection laws. The whistleblowers are urging the SEC to take swift action against these practices.
According to The Washington Post, the group says OpenAI “issued its employees overly restrictive employment, severance, and nondisclosure agreements that could have led to penalties against workers who raised concerns about OpenAI to federal regulators.”
The employees sent a seven-page letter detailing their concerns to SEC Chair Gary Gensler earlier this month. They ask the agency to “take swift and aggressive steps” to enforce the rules the employees say OpenAI violated with the agreements.
Employee agreements with the company reportedly required employees to waive their rights to whistleblower compensation. Also, they required employees to get the company’s consent before disclosing any information to federal authorities. That would violate federal laws and regulations that protect whistleblowers.
A company representative told Post its whistleblower policy “protects employees’ rights to make protected disclosures.”
The SEC has reportedly responded to the complaint; however, details have yet to be released regarding what action, if any, it plans to make.
In May, amid reports that OpenAI employees were required to sign restrictive off-boarding agreements, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said some part of the agreements should have never happened, making it “one of the few times I’ve been genuinely embarrassed running OpenAI.”
The agreements included both nondisclosure and non-disparagement provisions that forbid departing employees from criticizing OpenAI for life.
