OpenAI has been under scrutiny due to its controversial equity policy. Leaked documents reveal that the company had a provision in its off-boarding documents that could potentially revoke the vested equity of former employees if they violated non-disparagement agreements. This meant that employees could lose all their vested equity, likely worth millions of dollars, if they criticized the company or even acknowledged the existence of the non-disclosure agreement (NDA).
This policy sparked a wave of criticism and concern among the tech community. One former OpenAI employee, Daniel Kokotajlo, publicly shared that he had to sacrifice a significant portion of his family’s net worth by declining to sign an NDA upon leaving the company.
In response to the backlash, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman took to social media to address the issue. He confirmed the existence of the provision but emphasized that the company had never enforced it. Altman expressed embarrassment over the situation, stating that he was unaware of the provision and that it should never have been included in any documents or communications.
Altman assured that OpenAI was in the process of revising its exit paperwork and that the company would not revoke anyone’s vested equity if they did not sign a separation agreement or agree to a non-disparagement agreement. He also offered to rectify the situation for any former employee who had concerns about the old agreements.
This development comes amidst a series of high-profile resignations at OpenAI. The company’s co-founder and Chief Scientist, Ilya Sutskever, and Jan Leike, a team leader on OpenAI’s now-dissolved “Superalignment” AI safety team, both announced their departures recently.
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