Whistleblowers have reportedly alleged. Open AI Preventing employees from alerting regulators about potential artificial intelligence (AI) risks.
Whistleblowers say AI company made overly restrictive employment, nondisclosure and severance agreements, Washington Post Reported Sunday (July 14), citing a letter from these whistleblowers to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
The letter, obtained by the Post, said the agreements could mean fines against workers who raised concerns about OpenAI with federal regulators, and required workers to violate federal law. Whistleblowers waive their federal rights to compensation.
“These contracts sent a message that 'we don't want … employees talking to federal regulators,'” one whistleblower told the Post. “I don't think AI companies can develop technology that is safe and in the public interest if they shield themselves from scrutiny and dissent.”
PYMNTS has reached out to OpenAI for comment but has yet to receive a response.
A company spokesperson provided the Post with this statement:
“Our whistleblower policy protects employees' rights to make safe disclosures. Additionally, we believe a robust discussion of this technology is necessary and has already made significant changes to our departure process so that Non-disparagement clauses can be waived.
OpenAI's approach to safety has been the subject of some debate this year, with at least two notable employees — AI researcher John Lackey and policy researcher Gretchen Krueger — saying the company should prioritize product development. has been Safety considerations Announcing his resignations
OpenAI co-founder and former chief scientist Ilya Sotskiver has launched another ex-executive. Safe super intelligence, A new AI company focused on building a secure and powerful AI system. Without commercial interests.
As PYMNTS wrote shortly thereafter, this has sparked some debate as to whether such a feat is even possible.
“Critics of the superintelligence goal point to this. Current limitations of AI systemswho despite their impressive abilities, still struggle with tasks that require common sense reasoning and contextual understanding,” the report said. “They argue that narrow The leap from AI, which excels at specific tasks, to a general intelligence that surpasses human capabilities in all domains, is not simply a matter of increasing computational power or data.”
In addition, even some who believe in the possibility of AI superintelligence have concerns about ensuring its safety. The creation of a superintelligent AI will require advanced technological capabilities and a strong grasp of ethics, values, and the potential consequences of such a system's actions.