OpenAI whistleblowers have filed a complaint with the Securities and Exchange Commission and asked the agency to investigate whether the ChatGPT maker illegally restricted workers from speaking out about the risks of its artificial intelligence technology.
A letter to SEC Chair Gary Gensler representing “one or more anonymous and confidential” whistleblowers asks the agency to swiftly and aggressively enforce its rules against non-disclosure agreements that discourage employees or investors from raising concerns with regulators.
The July 1 letter references a formal whistleblower complaint recently filed with the SEC. The Washington Post was the first to report on the letter.
U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley’s office shared a copy of the letter with The Associated Press, noting it was provided to his office by legally protected whistleblowers.
“OpenAI’s policies and practices appear to cast a chilling effect on whistleblowers’ right to speak up and receive due compensation for their protected disclosures,” said Grassley, an Iowa Republican, in a written statement. “In order for the federal government to stay one step ahead of artificial intelligence, OpenAI’s nondisclosure agreements must change.”
OpenAI and the SEC didn’t respond to requests for comment Monday.
Google wins legal bid to overturn 1.5 billion euro antitrust fine in EU digital ad case
Google won a court challenge on Wednesday against a 1.49 billion euro ($1.66 billion) European Union antitrust fine imposed five years ago that targeted its online advertising business.
The EU's General Court said it was throwing out the 2019 penalty imposed by the European Commission, which is the 27-nation bloc's top antitrust enforcer.
"The General Court annuls the Commission's decision in its entirety," the court said in a press release.
The commission's ruling applied to a narrow portion of Google's ad business: ads that the U.S. tech giant sold next to Google search results on third-party websites.
Regulators had accused Google of inserting exclusivity clauses in its contracts that barred these websites from running similarly placed ads sold by Google's rivals. The commission said when it issued the penalty that Google's behavior resulted in advertisers and website owners having less choice and likely facing higher prices that would be passed on to consumers.
But the General Court said the commission "committed errors" when it assessed those clauses. The commission failed to demonstrate that Google's contracts deterred innovation, harmed consumers or helped the company hold on to and strengthen its dominant position in national online search advertising markets, it said.
The ruling can be appealed, but only on points of law, to the Court of Justice, the bloc's top court.
The commission said in a brief statement that it "will carefully study the judgment and reflect on possible next steps."
Google said it changed its contracts in 2016 to remove the provisions in question, even before the commission imposed its decision.
"We are pleased that the court has recognised errors in the original decision... Read More