OpenAI says dismissal of three former employees will stand after internal probe

OpenAI’s head of research issued a statement responding to a public letter from three former employees — Jasmine, Mikita and Tomek — saying the company had completed a full investigation and found they violated clear policies on handling sensitive information. The company said the internal review also uncovered serious breaches of trust that went beyond what was described in the public letter, and that it terminated the three employees last week and is maintaining that decision. OpenAI said the action was not taken because the employees raised safety concerns or expressed views publicly. According to the statement, the company’s internal culture includes daily, vigorous and critical discussions on safety and research, and staff are encouraged to challenge decisions. It added that good-faith mistakes are treated with tolerance and that employees are not fired for raising concerns. On the safety issues referenced in the public letter, OpenAI said it is finalizing a contract with a third-party safety assessment organization and expects to release more details in the coming weeks. The company also said outside evaluators will be incorporated into its safety work. OpenAI added that keeping frontier models monitorable requires industry-wide effort and said it has long treated that area as a research priority and will continue to devote substantial resources to it.