Over a dozen employees from OpenAI and Google DeepMind--two of the most prominent AI labs--have put their careers and livelihoods at risk. In June, they publicly sounded the alarm on the reckless and secretive approach to AI development that has yielded harms such as nonconsensual sexual deepfakes, unprecedented disinformation, and entrenched gender bias.

These engineers and scientists believe in the benefits that AI could offer humanity, but also see firsthand the dangers of AI outpacing those benefits, if it is not approached with caution.

Since June, these employees have been putting themselves on the line without gaining any public guarantees from their companies to meet their demands OR protect their right to speak out without consequence. This right to speak out should already be protected under law, but these tech companies are playing by a their own rule book. OpenAI, for instance, illegally made staff sign employee agreements that required them to waive their federal rights to whistleblower compensation.

This silencing is unacceptable, especially given that these workers aren’t just speaking out for their own benefit, but for ours--specifically, for the women, kids, and people of color who are most harmed by AI’s risks.

We can and should let these brave workers know we are grateful to them for speaking out and have their backs, and let their companies know that we are watching.