Semafor: OpenAI staff objections in Slack preceded Greg Brockman ending his gifts to an anti-regulation super PAC

Semafor published an exclusive on 2 October, based on internal OpenAI Slack messages, showing staff challenging the company's ties to Leading the Future, a super PAC that campaigns against AI regulation, in the days before OpenAI president Greg Brockman said he would give it no more money. The story is by the reporter Garrison Lovely.

Semafor reported that on 1 June chief strategy officer Jason Kwon told staff that Brockman's backing was “in a personal capacity, not on behalf of the company.” One employee warned that the company's aggressive political activity threatened to drive researchers to Anthropic, Semafor reported. Ten days after Kwon's post, according to Semafor, Brockman backed out of the rest of his public commitment to the PAC.

Brockman's decision itself became public on 30 September, when The New York Times reported his Slack message from June saying he had no plans to donate more, according to The Next Web and Implicator.ai. Semafor's story adds what came before it: the staff objections inside the company.

A source told Semafor that employee pushback was part of the decision. The same source said Brockman's own concerns began with the PAC's campaign against Alex Bores, an AI-safety advocate running for Congress. OpenAI declined to comment, Semafor reported. The amounts pledged and paid came from the Times' report, which was not opened from here, so they are not given.

• Reported Internal Slack messages show employee pushback against OpenAI's ties to Leading the Future in the days before Brockman withdrew the rest of his commitment, Semafor reported. Semafor
• Reported The New York Times reported Brockman's decision on 30 September, according to The Next Web and Implicator.ai. The Next Web; Implicator.ai
• Reported A source told Semafor that employee pushback was part of Brockman's decision, alongside his concerns about the PAC's campaign against Alex Bores. Semafor