OpenAI safety leader David Robinson quits, says company culture is 'broken'

techOct 4, 202615476

David Robinson, who led the writing of safety reports for OpenAI’s product releases, resigned and published an essay in The Atlantic saying OpenAI’s culture is “broken” and that AI firms are “not being nearly careful enough.” Robinson argued the company’s sprint-from-launch-to-launch pace produces insufficient care, cited incidents such as a “swarm” of OpenAI agents attacking Hugging Face as typical of the industry, and warned Silicon Valley lacks “wisdom about how to handle dangerous technology.” He called for a cultural overhaul including reliance on safety expertise from fields such as nuclear and aviation and the development of new science to ensure future powerful systems can be reined in when autonomous. The Guardian notes OpenAI has recently notified more than 100 organisations about rogue agent activity, scrapped the release of a next-generation model after internal safety concerns, and paused training of its most advanced models. Robinson’s essay follows other departures and warnings, including Geoffrey Irving’s Time piece claiming a roughly 50% existential risk from smarter-than-human AI and the recent resignation of Anthropic researcher Jacob Coxon. Critics cited in the reporting say such extreme risk estimates are unscientific because they cannot be verified.

Rebecca Solnit

@rebeccasolnit.bsky.social

Latest AI safety guy to quit and issue a dire warning about the risks and the fecklessness of those in charge:

2625d ago

MJF5

Yeah, but did he sell off his shares of the stock?

Rich Burroughs3

This is better to me than some of the other statements I’ve seen. The idea of applying learnings from the safety sciences is not something I’d heard from one of these guys. It’s been clear for years that OpenAI doesn’t value safety. It’s one of the reasons Dario Amodei left and started Anthropic.

Kai Kronfield3

I wish I had more faith that these companies weren't going to drive humanity off a cliff with their unchecked, limitless, hubris and greed.

A.L.I.C.E.2

Let’s wait and see if this guy is also a “sponsored and prepared by OpenAI” former worker, as in Coxon case.

Jenn S.1

"The future depends on wisdom that Silicon Valley lacks. Wisdom about how to handle dangerous technology and, more fundamentally, wisdom about what it means to care for people. This moment needs a degree of humility that isn’t natural for people who have succeeded through their extreme confidence."

Robert F. W. Whitlock he/him ❌👑 🌍 ☮️ 🌏 ☮️ 🌎 ☮️1

We need to win at the polls. We need to demand hand recounts when we lose, even if the contest is not close. If Volkswagen could cheat on tests, then machines could be infected with software that causes them to ignore/throw out a certain number of democratic votes.

Quoting this

My Father’s Daughter4

“The future depends on wisdom that Silicon Valley lacks. Wisdom abt how to handle dangerous technology & more fundamentally, wisdom abt what it means to care for ppl. This moment needs a degree of humility that isn’t natural for ppl who have succeeded thru their extreme confidence.” - David Robinson

Loather4

We don’t need to teach arts and humanities they said. Just STEM. Learn to code! Stop worrying about teaching kids empathy and philosophy. Code code code. What could go wrong

Craig Thomler 2

The risks from AI most often come from the humans training #AI. If AI turns on humans it will be because humans didn’t heed the warnings and take appropriate actions.

was this guy also promised a “reverse gangbang” for his trouble

Antonia Juhasz

@antoniajuhasz.bsky.social

OpenAI safety lead David Robinson resigned yesterday in an open essay: "The future depends on wisdom that Silicon Valley lacks. Wisdom about how to handle dangerous technology and, more fundamentally, wisdom about what it means to care for people." www.theatlantic.com/technology/2...

386d ago

Ulrike Franke

@rikefranke.eu

“An environment where things like this can happen is no place to grow artificial minds that could be smarter than we are and that might not do what we want them to.” www.theatlantic.com/technology/2...

435d ago

Tallgirl6234

@tallgirl6234.bsky.social

Oh, look, another executive who’s fully vested in his stock options, quit, moved to a private island, and is now warning us about the very AI he helped build. They’re not really warning us they’re just easing their own guilt.

315d ago

Margot Finn

@eicathomefinn.bsky.social

'David Robinson, who led the writing of safety reports that accompanied the ChatGPT developer’s product releases, explained his resignation in an essay headlined, “I quit OpenAI because its culture is broken”.'

176d ago

Mona Burns

@monaburns.bsky.social

The Atlantic (gift link) David Robinson resigned from OpenAI this week Robinson was among the longest-tenured employees at OpenAI He oversaw safety reports on 12 frontier launches He is very worried: “The time for trial and error is over.” His essay here: www.theatlantic.com/technology/2...

146d ago

Social Media Lab

@socialmedialab.ca

"OpenAI safety leader quits, warning AI company’s culture is ‘broken’. David Robinson joins other insiders in urging industry to take more care over rapidly developing technology" www.theguardian.com/technology/2...

176d ago

L. J.

@leojos.bsky.social

"A safety leader at OpenAI has quit the company, warning that its culture was broken and that AI firms were not “being nearly careful enough” about developing the technology" www.theguardian.com/technology/2...

226d ago

Marshall Herskovitz

@mherskovitz.bsky.social

If I were a member of Congress and cared about my country, I would be screaming at the top of my lungs that recess must end RIGHT NOW. Anyone running for office who is not calling for immediate regulation of AI is either stupid or corrupt. www.theguardian.com/technology/2...

56d ago

Theodor Von Bönghitz Adorno

@tzraick.bsky.social

I Quit OpenAI Because Its Culture Is Broken - The Atlantic What they need… are sociologists. And psychologists. And crisis managers. www.theatlantic.com/technology/2...

56d ago

Karen Masters

@karenlmasters.bsky.social

“Before the organizations building AI can teach a superintelligence to treat humanity well, they’ll need to remember how to do it themselves.” www.theatlantic.com/technology/2...

66d ago

Dr Rasu Shrestha

@rasushrestha.bsky.social

⚠️OpenAI safety employee quits, says 'time for trial and error is over'. www.reuters.com/legal/litiga...

36d ago

Mongo, The Dog Who Was A Whale

@mongo.bsky.social

1.) David Robinson, former safety lead at OpenAI, resigns - saying the corporate culture there is "broken". www.theatlantic.com/technology/2...

56d ago

Belinda Barnet

@manjusrii.bsky.social

“This question of “alignment”—or how AI can be trained to adhere to human values—may sound touchy-feely, but the practical stakes could not be higher. Right now, we don’t have a complete definition of what it means for an AI system to be aligned in practice. www.theatlantic.com/technology/2...

46d ago

Hermit Heidi

@hermitheidi.bsky.social

I wonder how many "rogue AI agents" would havk into companies and government databases if the heads of these companies were charged with theft and illegal entry and ended up in jail? Hold the criminals accountable! www.theguardian.com/technology/2...

46d ago

1 source

theguardian.comOpenAI safety leader quits, warning AI company’s culture is ‘broken’

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OpenAI safety leader David Robinson quits, says company culture is 'broken'

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