Krueger noted that OpenAI co-founder Ilya Sutskever and alignment head Jan Leike also resigned around the same time [File]
| Photo Credit: AP
Days after two senior executives at OpenAI announced their departures from the AI startup behind ChatGPT, policy researcher Gretchen Krueger shared on X that she would be doing the same.
Krueger noted that OpenAI co-founder Ilya Sutskever and alignment head Jan Leike also resigned, but said that her decision was made independently. She said she submitted her notice on May 14.
“I share their concerns. I also have additional and overlapping concerns,” said Krueger in her post, adding, “We need to do more to improve foundational things like decision-making processes; accountability; transparency; documentation; policy enforcement; the care with which we use our own technology; and mitigations for impacts on inequality, rights, and the environment.”
She also said she wanted to prevent tech companies from sowing discord amongst those seeking to hold them accountable, but appreciated OpenAI’s work and its future success.
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Leike announced his resignation last week, and said that OpenAI had more work to do when it came to safely procedures.
“Over the past years, safety culture and processes have taken a backseat to shiny products,” said Leike on X.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman agreed with him, but he and company president Greg Brockman later defended their commitment to safety measures, in an X post.
However, Altman apologised after media reports highlighted a provision in OpenAI’s exit paperwork that might lead to employees losing their equity if they did not sign a strict separation agreement when leaving the company.
OpenAI also paused one of its virtual voices, named ‘Sky,’ after Hollywood actor Scarlett Johansson expressed anger and claimed the voice was “eerily similar” to her own.
She pointed out how Altman also posted a reference to her 2013 film ‘Her,’ where she played an AI assistant.