The researchers deny the allegations and say they were never told what sensitive information they allegedly mishandled. An OpenAI spokeswoman said use of Signal was not approved but that it was not the only reason for the dismissals. The company has not made public what the other reasons are. The WSJ report is the first detailed account of how the investigation unfolded, and the full filings and internal findings are not public.
The timing draws scrutiny. The three had spent months pushing OpenAI to keep AI chain-of-thought processes visible to humans, and the firings came weeks after a Saudi national was arrested for allegedly bugging OpenAI's sensitive meeting room. Many commentators have criticized the move as suspicious or pretextual. For attorneys, the case raises questions likely to recur: whether employers can require access to personal devices and messaging apps during leak investigations, how confidentiality policies apply to safety concerns, and whether the stated grounds for termination will hold up if the researchers challenge them.