A cohort of regular employees from OpenAI has collectively contributed over $215,000 to a super PAC advocating for enhanced regulations on cutting-edge AI laboratories. The initiative, known as Guardrails Alliance, launched last month with an initial funding of $5 million and positions itself as a grassroots movement supported by tech professionals, labor unions, and other organizations. The Alliance aims to serve as a balance to Leading the Future, a super PAC that champions the AI industry and has amassed over $100 million in backing from prominent figures in the tech world, including OpenAI's president and co-founder, Greg Brockman.
As reported by WIRED, seven current staff members and one former employee from OpenAI have made donations to the Guardrails Alliance. The super PAC disclosed some of its supporters to WIRED ahead of its first quarterly report to the Federal Election Commission, which will be public on July 15. Among those expected to be included in the filing are two OpenAI employees, while future disclosures will reveal five additional contributors.
One of the most significant contributions came from Juan Felipe Cerón Uribe, a research engineer at OpenAI since 2022, who donated $200,000 to the political organization. Cerón Uribe expressed his concerns that the critical research conducted over the past four years aimed at reducing potential societal risks associated with AI may be in vain without appropriate safeguards holding private companies accountable for ethical AI development. “Tech billionaires, like Greg Brockman, have funded the super PAC Leading the Future to advocate for a lack of regulation. Learning about Guardrails Alliance’s initiative to counter LTF was refreshing; it made my decision to support them an easy one,” he remarked.
The contributions from OpenAI's current and former employees represent just a small segment of Guardrails Alliance’s ambitious target to raise $15 million during this election cycle. Their donations pale in comparison to the $50 million that Brockman and his wife, Anna, have pledged to Leading the Future.
Nonetheless, these donations from OpenAI's grassroots workforce underscore a rising discontent within the company regarding its influence on AI policy. Brockman’s financial support for Leading the Future has raised alarms among some employees, prompting them to request clarity on OpenAI's association with the super PAC. While company leaders have attempted to distance themselves from this group, a segment of the workforce is actively using their own funds to oppose Leading the Future's agenda.
