Meta AI Chief Taunts OpenAI

Yann LeCun, Chief AI Scientist at Meta, recently took to social media to mock competitor OpenAI's equity policies.

His comment reveals existing debates in the tech industry regarding company policies toward employees' stakes and non-disclosure agreements.

In his sarcastic tweet, Yann LeCun hinted at employment at 'ClosedAI,' a precise play on OpenAI. He exaggerated the company's value to '42 sextillionnollars' and '42 octillionnollars' to make the audience realize how unrealistic it is.

This critique highlighted some highly prescriptive and particularly onerous measures, including restrictions on employee rights, vesting clawback provisions for shares, and non-disclosure and nondisparagement provisions that apply if the employee departs or speaks out.

Controversial Employment Agreements

This commentary comes under the backdrop of revelations that OpenAI has suffered criticism over its employment agreements.

More specifically, it has been stated that these contracts contained provisions that may have limited the freedom of employees to dispose of the equity unless they refrained from speaking ill of the company. This has led to controversy regarding such practices' legal and moral permissibility.

Following investigative journalism and subsequent public scrutiny, OpenAI addressed these concerns. These policies forced OpenAI's CEO Sam Altman and other managers to answer difficult questions about these policies during a meeting with the employees.

They assured that the problematic sections in the contracts have been eliminated, and most ex-employees cannot be restricted by nondisparagement clauses anymore. This change was part of a series of alterations that Altman acknowledged was a 'genuinely embarrassing policy change.'

OpenAI's Response

In response to the criticism, OpenAI published a statement explaining that it always allowed former employees to sell their shares at the market price regardless of their status or affiliation and planned to do the same.

However, many, including former employee Jacob Hilton, still need to be convinced about the company's commitment to transparency and fairness in handling employee equity.

Despite these changes, skepticism persists surrounding OpenAI's equity fairness policies. The debate underscores the more significant issues of employee rights and corporate transparency in the rapidly evolving tech industry.

As the industry grows, these concerns will likely remain at the forefront of discussions about employee treatment and company policies.