Will OpenAI send the police to your door if you advocate regulating AI? Nathan Calvin, technology policy attorney at Encode AI, OpenAI claims to have done just that.
“One Tuesday evening, as my wife and I were sitting down to dinner, a sheriff’s deputy knocked on the door to serve me a subpoena from OpenAI,” Calvin writes on X. In addition to the subpoena from the organization he works for, Calvin claims that OpenAI subpoenaed him personally and the sheriff’s deputy asked for his private communications with California legislators, students and former OpenAI employees.
OpenAI’s Head of Mission Alignment, Joshua Achiam replied to Calvin’s post on X. “While this may pose a risk to my entire career, I will say: It doesn’t seem great,” Achiam wrote. “We cannot do things that make us a terrifying force rather than a virtuous one. We have a duty and a mission to all of humanity. The bar to be able to live up to this duty is extremely high.”
So does Tyler Johnston, founder of the artificial intelligence watchdog group The Midas Project reported that he and his organization received calls from OpenAI. Johnston said OpenAI has asked for “a list of all journalists, congressional offices, partner organizations, former employees and members of the public” with whom the organization has talked about OpenAI’s restructuring.
Edge I reached out to OpenAI for comment but did not immediately receive a response.