OpenAI One-Ups Anthropic with New Whistleblower Policy

OpenAI recently updated its policy for handling whistleblower complaints, following concerns about AI startups ignoring what are standard rules applying to all companies. It follows similar steps from Anthropic and could pressure other AI companies to follow suit. 

Federal government rules mandate that companies cannot retaliate against employees who report wrongdoing. Legislation governing AI, including the E.U. AI Act and California’s SB 53, has specifically mandated the protections for AI firms. But OpenAI, Anthropic and other AI companies have lobbied against laws containing whistleblower protections, arguing that they could expose trade secrets. OpenAI landed in hot water in May 2024 for an under-the-radar policy that required departing employees to sign non-disparagement agreements to keep their vested equity. (Whistleblowers even asked the Securities and Exchange Commission to investigate, but that policy has since been removed.) 

A year ago, the AI Whistleblower Initiative was founded in Berlin to research and advocate for whistleblower protections at AI companies and to support individual whistleblowers. While some companies were supportive, the initial reaction to its efforts wasn’t entirely friendly. When AIWI ran a campaign last year asking AI companies to publish their whistleblowing policies, one unnamed company sent the organization a cease-and-desist letter.