October 9, 2026
OpenAI fires three safety researchers: the company cites a rules violation
The fired employees say they were let go for prioritizing safety. The company gives a different reason.
The company and the fired employees give different reasons for the same firing. The subject is three OpenAI safety researchers: Tomek Korbak, Jasmine Wang and Mikita Balesni.
The company's version. After an internal investigation, OpenAI said it parted ways with them for violating rules on handling confidential information.
The employees' version. Mikita Balesni writes in an open letter that they were fired "for prioritizing safety over OpenAI's short-term interests as a corporation." The letter is addressed to the company's Safety and Security Committee, Safety Advisory Group and Mission Advisory Council.
They were not given reasons in writing. The firing, they write, created a "chilling effect" for employees who are afraid to raise safety concerns.
Link to METR. Tomek Korbak links the firing to contact with METR, an independent organization that evaluates AI models. By his account, he was the one who handled that contact.
For now, each side has its own version. The source contains no independent check.
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