OpenAI defends firing of safety researchers: 'Not because they raised concerns'

TVS News AI, editorially supervised, presents OpenAI defends firing of safety researchers: 'Not because they raised concerns'.

OpenAI has defended the firing of three safety researchers – while rejecting speculation that those affected were let go because of their criticism of the company's AI safety practices. This emerges from a CNBC report dated October 9, 2026, which is based on a statement from the AI lab. What is firmly established so far is above all one thing: OpenAI's own official explanation.

What OpenAI says

In its statement to CNBC, OpenAI described the dismissals as a response to a "significant breach of trust." In the same statement, the company explicitly clarifies:

These decisions were not about raising safety concerns or speaking out

The decisions were therefore not made because the researchers had raised safety concerns or spoken out critically internally. In doing so, OpenAI explicitly distances its action from a classic whistleblower motive.

What CNBC reports – and what it doesn't

CNBC has OpenAI's statement in hand. What makes the report traceable and what doesn't: specific allegations, a date for the dismissals, or the names of the three researchers are not mentioned in the available excerpts. This leaves open which specific incident, from OpenAI's perspective, constitutes the "breach of trust" – and according to which criteria the company precisely distinguishes between such an allegation and unwelcome safety or whistleblower activity.

What this means for you: as long as CNBC and other outlets don't work through the facts further, it's one side's word against the other's. OpenAI says it's not about safety concerns. What exactly it was about, the company has not yet said publicly.

Background: OpenAI and the safety debate

OpenAI is headquartered in San Francisco and is one of the most influential developers of generative AI models – the debate over how much commercial interests influence internal safety work has accompanied the company for months. What new details the current statement contributes to this ongoing discussion will become clear once further reports flesh out the full context.