The AI company is alleged to have used illegal non-disclosure agreements and required employees to disclose whether they have contact with authorities. Credit: Vitor Miranda / Shutterstock A whistleblower letter obtained by The Washington Post accuses OpenAI of illegally restricting employees from communicating with authorities about the risks their technology may pose. The letter was reportedly sent to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) — the agency that oversees the trading of securities — urging the regulators to review OpenAI. According to the letter, OpenAI allegedly used illegal non-disclosure agreements to, among other things, force employees to refrain from whistle-blowing incentives and it required them to state whether they had contact with authorities. OpenAI has come under previous criticism for the restrictive design of its non-disclosure agreements, which it said it would modify. In a statement to The Washington Post, OpenAI spokesperson Hannah Wong said: “Our whistleblower policy protects employees’ rights to make protected disclosures.” More OpenAI news: OpenAI is working on new reasoning AI technology OpenAI whistleblowers seek SEC probe into ‘restrictive’ NDAs with staffers OpenAI: Musk’s control issues at heart of ongoing rift OpenAI models still available in China via Azure cloud despite company ban Related content news analysis IDC: Expect AI spending to more than double to $632B AI spending is expected to grow by nearly 30% a year over the next four years, driven mainly by embedded tools and genAI, according to research firm IDC. By Lucas Mearian Aug 19, 2024 5 mins Software Providers Technology Industry Generative AI news brief More large US companies see AI as a risk The majority of the largest companies in the US worry that AI could lead to everything from increased competition to undermining human rights. By Viktor Eriksson Aug 19, 2024 1 min Generative AI Technology Industry opinion Agentic RAG AI — more marketing hype than tech advance CIOs are so desperate to stop generative AI hallucinations they’ll believe anything. Unfortunately, Agentic RAG isn’t new and its abilities are exaggerated. By Evan Schuman Aug 16, 2024 5 mins Technology Industry Generative AI Emerging Technology news Researchers tackle AI fact-checking failures with new LLM training technique Deductive Closure Training (DCT) looks to address the problems of LLM bias, misleading information, and outright contradiction. By John E. Dunn Aug 15, 2024 4 mins Generative AI IBM Technology Industry Podcasts Videos Resources Events SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER From our editors straight to your inbox Get started by entering your email address below. Please enter a valid email address Subscribe