OpenAI tells the world why it fired three of its top researchers; writes open letter saying, ‘Our internal investigation uncovered…’

OpenAI defended its high-profile firing of three leading artificial intelligence (AI) safety researchers on Friday (October 9), stating that the terminations were prompted by a “significant breach of trust” and clear data security policy violations rather than internal whistleblowing over technology risks. In an official statement published on X (formerly Twitter), the Sam Altman-led company identified the sacked staff members as Jasmine Wang, Tomek Korbak and Mikita Balesni – pushing back against claims that the trio was penalised for flagging technological hazards, and the disciplinary action was tied strictly to information handling rather than their safety advocacy.

What note from OpenAI research leaders said