Leaked OpenAI documents reveal aggressive tactics toward former employees

On Friday, Vox reported that employees at tech giant OpenAI who wanted to leave the company were confronted with expansive and highly restrictive exit documents. If they refused to sign in relatively short order, they were reportedly threatened with the loss of their vested equity in the company — a severe provision that's fairly uncommon in Silicon Valley. The policy had the effect of forcing ex-employees to choose between giving up what could be millions of dollars they had already earned or agreeing not to criticize the company, with no end date.

According to sources inside the company, the news caused a firestorm within OpenAI, a private company that is currently valued at some $80 billion. As with many Silicon Valley startups, employees at OpenAI often get the majority of their overall expected compensation in the form of equity. They tend to assume that once it has “vested,” according to the schedule laid out in their contract, it is theirs and cannot be taken back, any more than a company would claw back salary that has been paid out.