Tomek Korbak, Jasmine Wang, and Mikita Balesni published an October 8, 2026 open letter disputing OpenAI’s claim they mishandled sensitive information when collaborating with outside safety groups. They warned of a chilling effect on internal debate and third-party safety partnerships, urged preserved model monitorability, and raised concern that their terminations could justify narrowing access for auditors such as METR. OpenAI shared an internal memo denying retaliation and stating terminations were not for raising safety concerns.