--- title: "OpenAI Insiders Say They’re Being Silenced About Danger" description: "A coalition of current and former employees of OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google DeepMind are pushing for a \"Right to Warn\" AI leadership and the public about AI safety concerns, citing concerns over accountability, company overreach, and the silencing of AI workers. The group is seeking robust whistleblower protections, safe anonymous reporting pathways, and the abolition […]" date: "2024-06-04" modified: "2024-06-04" authors: - name: "Maggie Harrison Dupré" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/mharrison" url: "https://futurism.com/openai-insiders-silenced" categories: - "Artificial Intelligence" - "OpenAI" tags: - "ai" - "ai safety" - "google deepmind" - "OpenAI" --- # OpenAI Insiders Say They’re Being Silenced About Danger ![A coalition of AI workers are pushing for a "Right to Warn" the public about AI safety concerns, citing concerns over the employee silencing.]() *\Image: Andrew Caballero-Reynolds / AFP via Getty / Futurism\* A coalition of current and former employees of OpenAI — as well as a handful of colleagues from Anthropic and Google DeepMind — are pushing for a "Right to Warn" AI leadership and the public about AI safety concerns, citing fears over accountability, company overreach, and the silencing of AI workers. The group is seeking robust whistleblower protections, safe anonymous reporting pathways, and the abolition of the restrictive non-disclosure and non-disparagement agreements that [quiet current and former AI staffers](). The AI workers are also asking that AI companies work to "support a culture of open criticism," [as they write in an open letter](), so long as trade secrets are protected. According to the letter and a press release, the Right to Warn demands have been cosigned by AI "godfathers" Yoshua Bengio and Geoffrey Hinton, as well as fellow renowned AI scientist Stuart Russell. Per the cohort's website, they firmly believe that AI will "deliver unprecedented benefits to humanity." But they also urge that tech certainly doesn't come without its risks, including the concentration of power within the industry and the silencing of concerned staffers. "OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has said, 'you should not trust one company and certainly not one person \[to govern AI\],' and we agree," said Willliam Saunders, a former OpenAI employee and coalition member, in a statement. "When dealing with potentially dangerous new technologies, there should be ways to share information about risks with independent experts, governments, and the public." "Today, the people with the most knowledge about how frontier AI systems work and the risks related to their deployment," he continued, "are not fully free to speak because of possible retaliation and overly broad confidentiality agreements." The announcement of the Right to Warn initiative comes on the heels of a [damning *Vox* report]() revealing that ChatGPT creator OpenAI was threatening to claw back employees' vested equity — which many Silicon Valley workers will accept in lieu of a higher salary — if they didn't sign heavily restrictive NDAs. In response to that initial report, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman claimed he had no knowledge of the vested-equity-for-silence clause, saying he was "[genuinely embarrassed]()" it existed. A [follow-up *Vox* piece](), however, showed that Altman and other OpenAI executives signed paperwork [implying their direct knowledge]() of the deeply unconventional provision. "In order for OpenAI and other AI companies to be held accountable to their own commitments on safety, security, governance and ethics," wrote Jacob Hilton, a former OpenAI employee and currently a researcher at the Alignment Research Center, [in a Twitter thread](), "the public must have confidence that employees will not be retaliated against for speaking out." Hilton added that, as it stands, the "main way for AI companies to provide assurances to the public is through voluntary public commitments." But as the AI researcher noted, this is inherently pretty flimsy, as there's "no good way for the public to tell if the company is actually sticking to these commitments, and no incentive for the company to be transparent." On that note, it's also worth mentioning that OpenAI recently disbanded its "Superalignment" safety team entirely, and saw [several high-profile]() researchers exit. Which, of course, doesn't exactly sow confidence in the firm's prioritization of safety and ethics efforts. Elsewhere, Google's [demonstrably unsafe search AI]() has had a rough few weeks, too. In response to the Right to Warn letter, a spokesperson for OpenAI told *The New York Times* that the AI company is "proud of our track record providing the most capable and safest AI systems and believe in our scientific approach to addressing risk." "We agree that rigorous debate is crucial given the significance of this technology," the spokesperson added, "and we'll continue to engage with governments, civil society and other communities around the world." They also noted that OpenAI has an anonymous integrity "hotline." A Google spokesperson, according to the *NYT*, declined to respond. *F**uturism* has also reached out to Anthropic. Safety and ethics are important considerations for any burgeoning technology. Given that the leaders of AI companies often talk about the fact that their tech could possibly [destroy the entire world](), [sway elections](), or otherwise [wreak some short-to-long-term havoc]() on humanity, that feels especially true in the lucrative and concentrated AI bubble. But safety may also mean going slower, something that's very much disincentivized in Silicon Valley's AI race — and that reality, this letter suggests, is reflected behind the walls of AI companies, where real and productive dialogue about AI safety and the freedom to speak out about possible AI risks and harms might not always be a given. Anyway... you think Meta's mad [they didn't get a shoutout]() here? **More on AI:** [*Sam Altman Admits That OpenAI Doesn't Actually Understand How Its AI Works*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've reported extensively on the rise of AI as a cultural and business force shaping the media industry, and more broadly how those dynamics are changing how we all consume and share information and relate to one another. I'm also fascinated by public health policy and ethics, the role of emerging tech in politics and governance — and the powerful people and forces at those intersections — climate change, and the environment. My investigation on Sports Illustrated's use of AI-generated authors with fictional biographies won a 2024 Mirror Award for "Best Story on Media Coverage of Artificial Intelligence in Journalism and the Media" from Syracuse University's SI Newhouse School, I contributed to Niemen Lab's 2025 Predictions for Journalism series, and I've discussed my work for Futurism during appearances on NPR, CNN, the BBC, the CBC, and more. I grew up in rural Pennsylvania and attended the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where I played Division I field hockey for the Minutewomen as a midfielder. Since then, I've lived in New Orleans, Louisiana and Manhattan, New York. I spend my free time running, reading, perusing archival fashion, and searching for the world’s best negroni. I also have a debonair tuxedo cat, Westley, who's named after "The Princess Bride." ### Author social links [Bluesky]()