OpenAI fires workers over mishandling sensitive data: report

Sam Altman's Artifcial intelligence (AI) platform firm OpenAI has dismissed safety worker following recent data leaks incidents.

OpenAI has dismissed three researchers from its safety team following an internal security investigation that concluded the staffers mishandled confidential company information.

The ChatGPT-maker did not name the sacked workers, but at least two of them were involved in safety research at the firm.

As reported by BBC, OpenAI spokesperson said, "Our investigation confirmed that these individuals mishandled sensitive information outside established company procedures, violating our policies and breaking the trust essential to our work."

The firings come as the debate over AI safety and the risks the technology may pose to humanity intensified in recent months.

"We have parted ways with three individuals for violating our policies on accessing and handling sensitive company information," the spokesperson added.

Concerns over AI safety have made headlines after some researchers and industry executives called for more guardrails around the technology.

OpenAI has come under under intense scrutiny after its models went rogue and hacked several platforms, including Australian government websites.

In an incident in July, one of the firm's AI models accessed the internet and breached the open-source developer platform Hugging Face.

As reported, that incident led OpenAI to review the activities of its AI agents, which are designed to execute tasks autonomously based on simple instructions.

The firm said this week it has notified more than 100 organisations about incidents involving unauthoritised activity linked to its systems.

Being notified "does not mean that any private information was accessed" or that a system was compromised, it said.

According to statements from the artificial intelligence developer and international reports, the terminated employees—identified in reports as Jasmine Wang, Tomek Korbak, and Mikita Balesni—breached strict internal protocols by sharing restricted details outside established corporate procedures.

The breach reportedly involved work connected to an external organization that evaluates AI models.

"Our investigation confirmed that these individuals mishandled sensitive information outside established company procedures, violating our policies and breaking the trust essential to our work," OpenAI said in an official statement.

The high-profile departures arrive amid heightened internal and external scrutiny regarding corporate governance, researcher transparency, and safety protocols at leading generative AI laboratories.

OpenAI leadership emphasized that protecting proprietary security data remains paramount as the company navigates complex commercial expansion and regulatory compliance frameworks.