Whistleblowers claim OpenAI’s NDAs are illegal

Whistleblowers say that OpenAI illegally keeps employees from talking to government regulators about problems at work and removes their rights to rewards for blowing the whistle.

People who have reported wrongdoings at OpenAI say that the company illegally limits how its employees can talk to government regulators.

The letter was sent to Gary Gensler, Chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission, by lawyers for an anonymous whistleblower.

The letter discusses a different, official complaint that asks the SEC to look into OpenAI’s severance, non-disparagement, and non-disclosure agreements.

The letter says, “The agreements made it illegal and discouraged employees and investors from talking to the SEC about securities violations.

They also made employees give up their rights to whistleblower rewards and pay, and they had to let the company know if they talked to government regulators.”

The letter also claims to have provided evidence to the SEC that “OpenAI’s previous NDAs violated the law by forcing its employees to sign illegally restrictive contracts to get jobs, severance pay, and other financial benefits.”

A spokesperson for the company said that OpenAI’s policy on “whistleblowers” “protects employees’ rights to make protected disclosures.”

The Post got a copy of the letter from Senator Chuck Grassley’s (R-Iowa) office, according to a spokesperson for the senator. (The Congress got copies.)

“Whistleblowers will be essential to that task,” Grassley said in a statement. “It is part of Congress’s constitutional duty to protect our national security to monitor and lessen the threats posed by AI.”

OpenAI’s policies and practices suggest that whistleblowers are less likely to voice their concerns and receive compensation for their protected disclosures.

OpenAI’s Exit Agreements and NDAs Under Scrutiny

He also stated that OpenAI’s nondisclosure agreements must be changed if the government wants to remain “one step ahead of artificial intelligence.”

Parts of OpenAI’s employee exit agreement, which would have stripped former employees of their vested equity if they refused to sign the document or violated their NDAs, drew criticism early this year.

After that, CEO Sam Altman said he was “very sorry” and that the company had “never clawed anything back” and was “already in the process of fixing the standard exit paperwork.”