Source: Understandingai
OpenAI removed a safety researcher for coordinating with an external audit firm (METR). The move suggests the company values control over external scrutiny, undercutting its stated commitment to transparency. When a company investigating potential harms silences that investigation, its safety commitments appear performative. The precedent is material: if the field's most safety-conscious actor dismisses external accountability, smaller competitors will cite that to resist independent oversight.