OpenAI fires three safety researchers, then rebuts the retaliation letter on the record
From the AI digest for 2026-10-09
What happened: OpenAI dismissed safety researchers Jasmine Wang, Tomek Korbak and Mikita Balesni after an investigation found "a significant breach of trust" — violations of "clear policies on handling sensitive information." The trio answered with an open letter; on Friday (Oct 9, ~5:50 AM ET) OpenAI posted on X standing firm, insisting the decision was "not about the trio speaking out about the company and their concerns about AI safety" (The Verge).
What's genuinely new: the firing dispute is now two-sided on the record — a named trio (all three are publishing alignment researchers, Korbak/Balesni among OpenAI's alignment-science staff) vs. a public company rebuttal, rather than a quiet exit. Context the letter will be read against: David Robinson's resignation and "fundamentally broken" industry critique landed Oct 3, the incident-response machinery is weeks old, and this is the first involuntary safety-side exit in the record.
Watch: the letter's text and claims (not yet in our feed — X-grade so far); whether "sensitive information" ties to the incident-review work or something else; whether anyone in government or press asks what the trio saw.
Links: The Verge