Trouble is looming for OpenAI, after a group of whistleblowers accused the company of requiring employees to sign illegally restrictive non-disclosure agreements (NDAs).
Lawyers representing these whistleblowers sent a letter to SEC Chairman Gary Gensler arguing that OpenAI's contracts with current and former employees may illegally prevent them from reporting adverse conduct to government agencies.
The letter states that OpenAI is requiring employees, former employees and investors to seek prior consent before disclosing any information to the federal government, effectively discouraging anyone from speaking up except for a group of anonymous whistleblowers.
The allegations are ominous given that several well-known, safety-conscious employees at OpenAI have left the company this year, including Ilya Sutskever, OpenAI's co-founder and former chief scientist.
For more on what this means for OpenAI, check out today's TechCrunch Minute.