OpenAI has fired three employees involved in AI safety after alleging they mishandled confidential information. The Wall Street Journal first reported that the dismissals included allegations of sharing company material with an outside AI safety organization.
Bloomberg reported that the group comprised two safety and alignment researchers and a research program manager. OpenAI said its investigation found that the employees handled sensitive material outside approved procedures, violating company policies and the trust required for their work.
AFP identified the employees as Jasmine Wang, Tomek Korbak and Mikita Balesni, citing the Journal; OpenAI did not confirm their names. In a September 10 post, Balesni put the chance of AI killing all humans above 10%.
i am at OpenAI and i think AI is >10% likely to kill all humans
— Mikita Balesni 🇺🇦 (@balesni) September 10, 2026
this proposal is among the top things we should do as an industry to lower that risk (it’s not enough though!) https://t.co/40AIoYBh5k
That figure was Balesni’s personal risk estimate. AFP also noted recent public safety concerns from Wang and Korbak. The reporting does not establish that those views were the reason they lost their jobs.
The departures follow OpenAI’s recently published assessment principles, covered by AIstify, which propose independent scrutiny of its models while setting rules for access to sensitive information and disclosure of findings.
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