The BaseEssayDon't Worry About the Vase (Zvi Mowshowitz)
OpenAI Fires Three Safety Researchers
Zvi Mowshowitz collects statements from OpenAI and from three fired safety researchers, Tomek Korbak, Mikita Balesni and Jasmine Wang, who dispute the stated reason. Mowshowitz says the firings look bad, believes the researchers sincerely, and notes OpenAI cites an undisclosed further breach of trust.
Why it matters
The same thing, for different readers.
What it means for you
Staff at an AI company say they were dismissed after working with outside safety auditors; the company denies this and has not said what the further breach was.
For lawmakers
The dispute is cited as an argument for whistleblower protection and for clear rules on how company staff may work with external auditors.
For researchers
Outside evaluators depend on lab staff who can talk to them; this case may make such liaisons and monitorability work harder.
The question it raises
How much must a company explain when it ends the careers of people who warn about risk, and who should judge whether trust was truly broken?
In their own words
Every quotation was found, word for word, in the text we saved from the source. That shows the words are there; it does not make them true, or prove the speaker meant them as quoted.
From the source’s own text.
“I was told verbally I was fired because of the way I communicated with METR. No details on what I said or did or when. No other reasons were given and nothing was put in writing. To be clear, talking to METR was my job.”
“The message to everyone still at OpenAI is clear: raise concerns or work closely with outside safety groups, and you could be next, without being told why. You can't build AGI safely if the people closest to the risks are afraid to speak.”
“If OpenAI wants to undo the damage and chilling effect, including at other labs, they have to convince their employees, and ideally everyone, that safety advocacy, both internal and external, had nothing to do with why these three employees were fired.”
“I do not believe the fired employees are lying to us. I see no reason for them to be doing that, and if they are lying about the exit meetings then OpenAI has the ability to contradict this.”
The record
- Questions
- Are AI companies putting stronger safeguards into practice? · Who can demand evidence, delay a release or stop an unsafe deployment?
- People
- Zvi Mowshowitz (Wrote it) · Tomek Korbak (About them) · Mikita Balesni (About them) · Jasmine Wang (About them)
- Also covered by
- LessWrong
- What we read
- We read the whole source.
- Found by
- The Radar, run of October 13, 2026, via
zvi-mowshowitz(tier 1: the source’s own channel or an official record) - Cite this
- Don't Worry About the Vase (Zvi Mowshowitz), “OpenAI Fires Three Safety Researchers”, October 12, 2026. Entry in the Ctrl AI Base, https://ctrlai.com/base/zvi-2026-10-12-openai-fires-three-safety-researchers