Two former OpenAI researchers who resigned this year over safety concerns said they were disappointed but not surprised by OpenAI’s decision to oppose SB 1047, a California bill aimed at preventing AI disasters. Daniel Kokotajlo and William Saunders previously warned that OpenAI was engaging in a “reckless” race for dominance.
“Our former CEO, Sam Altman, repeatedly called for AI regulation,” they wrote in a letter shared with Politico, urging California Gov. Gavin Newsom to sign the bill. “Now that real regulation is being discussed, he opposes it.” The pair added, “We hope that appropriate regulation will help OpenAI live up to its stated mission to build AGI safely.”
In response to former employees, an OpenAI spokesperson said in a statement to TechCrunch that the company “strongly disagrees with this misrepresentation of our position on SB 1047.” The spokesperson pointed to a congressional AI bill that OpenAI supported, saying, “Front-line AI safety regulations must be federally enforced because of their impact on national security and competitiveness.”
OpenAI’s competitor Anthropic has voiced support for the bill, raising specific concerns and requesting amendments. Several have since coalesced, and on Thursday, CEO Dario Amodei wrote to Newsom saying the current bill’s “benefits likely outweigh its costs,” but he stopped short of fully supporting the bill.
