OpenAI's firing of three researchers draws skepticism; Neel Nanda lists five scenarios where its story doesn't add up
Turn_Trout · x · 2026-10-10
OpenAI's research leaders stated they parted ways with Jasmine, Mikita, and Tomek after an investigation found violations of sensitive-information policies, claiming a significant breach of trust beyond what the employees' open letter described, and insisting the firings were not about raising safety concerns.
DeepMind's Neel Nanda pushed back, arguing the account "doesn't add up" and laying out five possibilities: OpenAI is lying or misleading; it had a legitimate reason but gave three different minor-infraction pretexts; the three employees are publicly lying (deemed very unlikely); or OpenAI fumbled uncoordinated decisions and is now doubling down.
Related event: OpenAI Says Fired Safety Researchers Violated Confidentiality Policies(12 posts)→
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