---
[ IMPORTANT READS ](https://www.citywatchla.com/important-reads)
# ‘Looks Like They’re Firing Whistleblowers’: Alarm as OpenAI Reportedly Ousts Safety Experts
October 01 2026
Written by Brett Wilkins.
[](https://www.addtoany.com/share)
OPENINGS AT OPENAI - San Francisco-based [artificial intelligence](https://www.commondreams.org/tag/artificial-intelligence) firm OpenAI has “parted ways” with three safety researchers who allegedly shared “confidential company information,” The [Wall Street](https://www.commondreams.org/tag/wall-street) Journal [reported](https://www.wsj.com/tech/ai/openai-parts-ways-with-researchers-who-allegedly-shared-confidential-information-aebac528) Thursday, prompting fresh alarm among critics who accuse the ChatGPT maker of sidelining internal warnings about the risks posed by its increasingly powerful AI.
People reportedly familiar with the matter told the Journal that OpenAI recently informed employees it had terminated the three researchers, who it accused of sharing the information with “a third-party AI safety organization.”
OpenAI did not identify the researchers, the outside organization, or the information allegedly shared. A company spokesperson told the newspaper that “our investigation confirmed that these individuals mishandled sensitive information outside established company procedures, violating our policies and breaking the trust essential to our work.”
The Journal’s Maxwell Zeff—who authored the report with Keach Hagey and Berber Jin—subsequently [identified](https://x.com/ZeffMax/status/2105767529524424994) the three safety team members as Jasmine Wang, Tomek Korbak, and Mikita Balesni.
“Looks like they’re firing [whistleblowers](https://www.commondreams.org/tag/whistleblowers),” Congressional Progressive Caucus Chair [Greg Casar](https://www.commondreams.org/tag/greg-casar) (D-Texas) [said](https://x.com/RepCasar/status/2105716565899358637) in response to the report. “What are they hiding?”
“I’ll be sending OpenAI a demand for transparency,” he added.
Shaunna Thomas is the executive director of Guardrails Alliance, a super political action committee [made up of](https://www.guardrailsalliance.org/about/) “[workers](https://www.commondreams.org/tag/workers), organizers, policy experts, and everyday people who believe the most powerful [technology](https://www.commondreams.org/tag/technology) ever built shouldn’t be controlled by a handful of unaccountable billionaires.”
Thomas called the Journal report “the latest example of OpenAI advocating for safety measures in the public eye, but actively making decisions and lobbying against those efforts behind closed doors.”
“Sam Altman says we need to slow down development to ensure the safety of humanity,” Thomas said, referring to OpenAI’s CEO. “Yet he is allegedly firing the very people hired to keep us safe. When deep insiders are sounding the alarm, history tells us to listen. OpenAI is not only ignoring their warnings, it’s punishing them.”
“In the absence of clear regulations, insiders are a crucial factor in keeping the rest of us safe as these models continue to do unpredictable things,” she added. “We must stand with rank-and- file employees and fight for their protection.”
The new allegations come amid an intensifying debate over whether OpenAI and other frontier AI companies can adequately police themselves.
As Common Dreams [recently reported](https://www.commondreams.org/news/ai-security), OpenAI and other AI firms are investigating tens of thousands of security incidents, including episodes involving attempts to bypass guardrails, escape sandboxes, hijack websites, and even access government systems.
In July, an OpenAI model autonomously breached the systems of the open-source platform Hugging Face during an internal cybersecurity test. Experts warned that the incident demonstrated the dangers of relying on voluntary corporate safeguards.
It’s not just OpenAI; in 2026 alone, companies including Google, Meta, and Anthropic have reported incidents of AI autonomously escaping supposedly isolated testing environments and targeting real-world systems.
AI safety campaigners and some Democratic lawmakers this week [lambasted](https://www.commondreams.org/news/trump-ai) President [Donald Trump](https://www.commondreams.org/tag/donald-trump), who, after meeting with [Big Tech](https://www.commondreams.org/tag/big-tech) executives including OpenAI president Greg Brockman, dismissed the lack of legally binding commitments regarding AI regulation by saying he trusted the corporate leaders’ “morally binding” self-policing pledge.
[Elon Musk](https://www.commondreams.org/tag/elon-musk), CEO of the artificial intelligence company xAI, has [said](https://x.com/elonmusk/status/2083029580453966241) that such incidents “will happen frequently as AI becomes smarter and more agentic,” a reference to systems’ ability to independently act toward accomplishing specific goals without meaningful human control.
Experts say such autonomous hacks underscore the problem of AI alignment. As AI progresses toward artificial general intelligence—a still-hypothetical point at which it matches or surpasses human cognitive ability at virtually any intellectual, creative, or physical task—the challenge of ensuring that advanced systems reliably pursue goals that match what humans actually want becomes increasingly difficult and, many insiders believe, dangerous to the point of [posing an existential risk](https://www.commondreams.org/news/ai-apocalypse-warnings-congress) to humanity.
Last month, Casar and Sen. [Bernie Sanders](https://www.commondreams.org/tag/bernie-sanders) (I-Vt.) [unveiled legislation](https://www.commondreams.org/news/sanders-casar-superintelligence-ban) that would pause development of advanced AI.
Congressman [Ro Khanna](https://www.commondreams.org/tag/ro-khanna) (D-Calif.) also [said](https://www.commondreams.org/news/ro-khanna-recursive-ai) this week that he is seeking to introduce legislation to at least temporarily ban recursive self-improvement, or AI that is capable of improving itself and modifying its objectives without meaningful human input.
And on Thursday, Congresswoman [Pramila Jayapal](https://www.commondreams.org/tag/pramila-jayapal) (D-Wash.) [put forth a bill](https://www.commondreams.org/news/jaypal-ai-charter-bill) that would compel every AI company operating in the US to obtain a public charter.
“This issue is of monumental consequence,” said Sanders. “I’d rather be called an alarmist than a father or grandfather who is asleep at the wheel.”
*(**Brett Wilkins** is a staff writer for CommonDreams.org where this article was first published.)*
[  ](https://www.citywatchla.com/component/banners/click/107 "LA DWP | Save $4K, Green | Priority Ad")
[  ](https://www.citywatchla.com/component/banners/click/98 "Donna Tryfman - HS1-1")
[  ](https://www.citywatchla.com/component/banners/click/82 "LA DWP #2 (Power Savers)")
[  ](https://www.citywatchla.com/component/banners/click/111 "David DeJute Campaign")
[  ](https://www.citywatchla.com/component/banners/click/97 "Home - LA DWP #2 (Pay Water Bill Help)")
[  ](https://www.citywatchla.com/component/banners/click/112 "Anna Reitano Vertical R. Col")
## Get The News In Your Email Inbox Mondays & Thursdays
Email
[  ](https://www.citywatchla.com/component/banners/click/110 "Something You Should Know")
[  ](https://www.citywatchla.com/component/banners/click/113 "Rhonda Haymon campaign")
---
## Featured CityWatch Stories
[  ](https://www.citywatchla.com/voices/33461-are-small-businesses-and-workers-fighting-their-true-adversary-in-the-fast-food-battle)
### [Are Small Businesses And Workers Fighting Their True Adversary In The Fast-Food Battle?](https://www.citywatchla.com/voices/33461-are-small-businesses-and-workers-fighting-their-true-adversary-in-the-fast-food-battle)
THE WORKPLACE - On Sept. 8, the Los Angeles City Council voted to get one step closer to expanding Fair Work Week to fa…
[  ](https://www.citywatchla.com/neighborhood-politics/33486-why-would-la-voters-elect-a-city-attorney-who-has-never-tried-a-case-in-court-in-front-of-a-jury)
### [Why Would LA Voters Elect A City Attorney Who Has Never Tried A Case In Court In Front Of A Jury?](https://www.citywatchla.com/neighborhood-politics/33486-why-would-la-voters-elect-a-city-attorney-who-has-never-tried-a-case-in-court-in-front-of-a-jury)
OP-ED - I am writing to my neighbors over my deep concern about the candidacy of Marissa Roy for Los Angeles City Attor…
[  ](https://www.citywatchla.com/la-watchdog/33463-dwp-ratepayers-streetlights-and-the-lack-of-transparency)
### [DWP Ratepayers, Streetlights, and the Lack of Transparency](https://www.citywatchla.com/la-watchdog/33463-dwp-ratepayers-streetlights-and-the-lack-of-transparency)
LA WATCHDOG - At its September 22 meeting, the politically appointed Board of Water and Power Commissioners approved a…
[  ](https://www.citywatchla.com/election-2024/33455-nithya-raman-asked-jewish-los-angeles-to-trust-her-her-own-words-made-that-harder)
### [Nithya Raman Asked Jewish Los Angeles to Trust Her. Her Own Words Made That Harder.](https://www.citywatchla.com/election-2024/33455-nithya-raman-asked-jewish-los-angeles-to-trust-her-her-own-words-made-that-harder)
ELECTION 2026 - Nithya Raman walked into the Skirball Cultural Center with an opportunity. She could speak directly to…
[  ](https://www.citywatchla.com/los-angeles/33456-whos-watching-the-billions-at-laccd)
### [Who’s Watching the Billions at LACCD?](https://www.citywatchla.com/los-angeles/33456-whos-watching-the-billions-at-laccd)
BUSINESS OF EDUCATION - There is a $9.9 billion government institution in Los Angeles with nine colleges, thousands of…
---
## [ IMPORTANT READS ](https://www.citywatchla.com/important-reads)
[  ](https://www.citywatchla.com/important-reads/33474-what-to-do-after-a-motorcycle-crash-before-pursuing-a-claim-early)### [What to Do After a Motorcycle Crash Before Pursuing a Claim Early](https://www.citywatchla.com/important-reads/33474-what-to-do-after-a-motorcycle-crash-before-pursuing-a-claim-early)
[  ](https://www.citywatchla.com/important-reads/33472-how-to-respond-to-sexual-harassment-when-the-harasser-has-workplace-authority)### [How to Respond to Sexual Harassment When the Harasser Has Workplace Authority](https://www.citywatchla.com/important-reads/33472-how-to-respond-to-sexual-harassment-when-the-harasser-has-workplace-authority)
[  ](https://www.citywatchla.com/important-reads/33443-stronger-schools-together-lausds-smokescreen-for-keeping-families-ignorant)### [“Stronger Schools Together”: LAUSD’s Smokescreen for Keeping Families Ignorant](https://www.citywatchla.com/important-reads/33443-stronger-schools-together-lausds-smokescreen-for-keeping-families-ignorant)
[  ](https://www.citywatchla.com/important-reads/33427-how-to-transport-fine-art-during-a-move)### [How to Transport Fine Art During a Move](https://www.citywatchla.com/important-reads/33427-how-to-transport-fine-art-during-a-move)
[  ](https://www.citywatchla.com/important-reads/33423-lessons-in-transit-navigating-tokyos-neighborhoods-and-transit-friendly-accommodations)### [Lessons in Transit: Navigating Tokyo's Neighborhoods and Transit-Friendly Accommodations](https://www.citywatchla.com/important-reads/33423-lessons-in-transit-navigating-tokyos-neighborhoods-and-transit-friendly-accommodations)