OpenAI allegedly sent police to an AI regulation advocate’s door

Will OpenAI send police to your door if you advocate for AI regulation? Nathan Calvin, a lawyer who shapes policies surrounding the technology at Encode AI, claims OpenAI did just that.

“One Tuesday night, as my wife and I sat down for dinner, a sheriff’s deputy knocked on the door to serve me a subpoena from OpenAI,” Calvin writes on X. In addition to subpoenaing the organization he works for, Calvin claims that OpenAI subpoenaed him personally, with the sheriff’s deputy asking for his private messages with California legislators, college students, and former OpenAI employees.

OpenAI’s head of mission alignment, Joshua Achiam, responded to Calvin’s post on X. “At what is possibly a risk to my whole career I will say: this doesn’t seem great,” Achiam wrote. “We can’t be doing things that make us into a frightening power instead of a virtuous one. We have a duty to and a mission for all of humanity. The bar to pursue that duty is remarkably high.”

Tyler Johnston, the founder of the AI watchdog group The Midas Project, similarly reported that he and his organization received subpoenas from OpenAI. Johnston said OpenAI asked for “a list of every journalist, congressional office, partner organization, former employee, and member of the public” that the organization has spoken to about OpenAI’s restructuring.

The Verge reached out to OpenAI with a request for comment but didn’t immediately hear back.