OpenAI’s NDAs are under renewed scrutiny after whistleblowers wrote to the SEC alleging that employees were forced to sign “unlawfully restrictive” agreements that prevent them from talking about the potential harms of the company’s technology. letter obtained by and published online , accusing OpenAI of violating SEC rules intended to protect employees’ rights to report concerns to federal authorities and prevent retaliation. This follows a formal complaint filed with the SEC in June.
In the letter, the whistleblowers ask the SEC to “take swift and aggressive action” to enforce the rules they say OpenAI is violating. The alleged violations include forcing employees to sign contracts that “do not provide disclosure of securities violations to the SEC” and requiring employees to obtain consent from the company before disclosing confidential information to authorities. The letter also states that OpenAI’s contracts require employees to “waive congressionally mandated compensation to encourage whistleblowers and provide financial assistance to whistleblowers.”
in his statement to Post, OpenAI spokeswoman Hannah Wong said, “Our whistleblower policy protects employees’ rights to make protected disclosures,” adding that the company has made “significant changes” to its internal documents to remove non-disparagement provisions. OpenAI said earlier this spring that it had fixed those contracts after being accused of making threats if they didn’t sign NDAs on their way out.
according to The Washington Post, the SEC has responded to the complaint, but no details have yet been released about any action it will or will not take. But whistleblowers say the app is crucial “even if OpenAI reforms in the wake of the public disclosure of its illegal contracts.” “Not as an attack on OpenAI or to hinder the development of AI technology, but to report employee rights violations or investor wrongdoing to others in the AI field and the tech industry in general,” the letter said.
