Guaranteeing all the safety people that left OpenAI that any legal fees for breaking their NDA would be fully compensated might be a very effective intervention.
On first order, this might have a good effect on safety.
On second order, it might have negative effects, because it increases the risk of and therefor lowers the rate of such companies hiring people openly worrying about AI X-Risk.
On third order, people who openly worry about X-Risk may get influenced by their environment, becoming less worried as a result of staying with a company whose culture denies X-Risk, which could eventually even cause them to contribute negatively to AI Safety. Preventing them from getting hired prevents this.
In my opinion, a class action filed by all employees allegedly prejudiced (I say allegedly here, reserving the right to change ‘prejudiced’ in the event that new information arises) by the NDAs and gag orders would be very effective.
Were they to seek termination of these agreements on the basis of public interest in an arbitral tribunal, rather than a court or internal bargaining, the ex-employees are far more likely to get compensation. The litigation costs of legal practitioners there also tend to be far less.
Again, this assumes that the agreements they signed didn’t also waive the right to class action arbitration. If OpenAI does have agreements this cumbersome, I am worried about the ethics of everything else they are pursuing.
Guaranteeing all the safety people that left OpenAI that any legal fees for breaking their NDA would be fully compensated might be a very effective intervention.
On first order, this might have a good effect on safety.
On second order, it might have negative effects, because it increases the risk of and therefor lowers the rate of such companies hiring people openly worrying about AI X-Risk.
On third order, people who openly worry about X-Risk may get influenced by their environment, becoming less worried as a result of staying with a company whose culture denies X-Risk, which could eventually even cause them to contribute negatively to AI Safety. Preventing them from getting hired prevents this.
In my opinion, a class action filed by all employees allegedly prejudiced (I say allegedly here, reserving the right to change ‘prejudiced’ in the event that new information arises) by the NDAs and gag orders would be very effective.
Were they to seek termination of these agreements on the basis of public interest in an arbitral tribunal, rather than a court or internal bargaining, the ex-employees are far more likely to get compensation. The litigation costs of legal practitioners there also tend to be far less.
Again, this assumes that the agreements they signed didn’t also waive the right to class action arbitration. If OpenAI does have agreements this cumbersome, I am worried about the ethics of everything else they are pursuing.
For further context, see:
Trump’s NDA termination;
A Practical Guide to Challenging Gag Orders Under the Stored Communications Act (alston.com); and
1909_Class Actions_Arbitration Agreements and Class Action Waivers _Federal, CA_.pdf (sheppardmullin.com).