OpenAI reportedly made outgoing employees choose between keeping their vested equity and being able to speak out against the company. According , which saw the document in question, employees could “lose all of the equity they earned during their time at the company, likely worth millions of dollars” if they didn't sign a confidentiality and non-disparagement agreement, thanks to a provision in the discharge documents. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman confirmed in a x.com/sama/status/1791936857594581428″ rel=”nofollow noopener” target=”_blank” data-ylk=”slk:tweet;elm:context_link;elmt:doNotAffiliate;cpos:2;pos:1;itc:0;sec:content-canvas”> Saturday night that such a provision existed, but said “we have never recovered anyone's vested assets, nor will we if people don't sign a separation agreement (or agree to a non-disparagement agreement).”
An OpenAI spokesperson echoed this in a statement to voice, and Altman said the company was “already in the process of fixing standard output documentation over the last month.” But how voice As he notes in his report, at least one former OpenAI employee has spoken publicly about sacrificing fairness by refusing to sign a confidentiality agreement upon leaving. Daniel Kokotajlo recently in an online forum that this decision caused a loss of wealth that would likely amount to “at least around 85 percent of my family's net worth.”
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regarding recent stuff on how openai handles capital:
We have never recovered anyone's acquired wealth, nor will we if people don't sign a separation agreement (or agree to a non-disparagement agreement). Acquired capital is acquired capital, period.
there was…
—Sam Altman (@sama) twitter.com/sama/status/1791936857594581428?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw” rel=”nofollow noopener” target=”_blank” data-ylk=”slk:May 18, 2024;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas” class=”link “>May 18, 2024
In Altman's response, the CEO apologized and said he was “embarrassed” after learning of the provision, which he claims he was previously unaware of. “There was a provision about possible cancellation of shares in our previous exit documents; although we never recovered anything, it should never have been something we had in any document or communication,” he wrote on I didn't know this was happening and I should have (sic).” In addition to acknowledging that the company is changing exit procedures, Altman went on to say, “(I)f any former employees who signed one of those old agreements are concerned about that, they can contact me and we'll fix that, too.” .”
This all comes after two more high-profile resignations from OpenAI this week. OpenAI's co-founder and chief scientist announced that he was leaving the company and was followed shortly after by Jan Leike, who was a team leader at OpenAI.
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