Fired OpenAI safety researchers publish open letter on AI oversight

Three OpenAI safety researchers lost their jobs last week. Now they have published a letter criticizing the company for putting profit ahead of safety. The researchers are Jasmine Wang, Tomek Korbak, and Mikita Balesni. OpenAI says it fired them for sharing confidential material outside the company. They say they were doing their jobs. What happened and when The terminations took place on or around October 1, 2026. OpenAI cited violations of company policies on sensitive information. An internal investigation reportedly found that the trio had passed confidential materials to an outside AI safety organization. The researchers disputed that framing. They argued their conduct fit within their professional responsibilities. That argument carries some weight given Korbak’s former role. He previously served as OpenAI’s liaison to METR and Redwood Research, two external safety groups. When part of your job description is talking to outside safety researchers, the line between “collaboration” and “leak” can get blurry fast. On October 8, the three sent a letter to OpenAI’s board and its safety committees. It has since been published on Balesni’s personal website. The letter’s central warn...