OpenAI has terminated Ryan Beiermeister, a female executive, following allegations of sexual discrimination against a male colleague. Beiermeister opposed the company’s plans to release an “adult mode” of ChatGPT.
The Wall Street Journal reports that OpenAI has dismissed Ryan Beiermeister, its vice president of product policy, over allegations of sexual discrimination involving a male colleague. Beiermeister has firmly denied the allegations. “The allegation that I discriminated against anyone is absolutely false,” she said in a statement to the Journal.
The firing reportedly took place in early January. The timing has raised questions, as it followed Beiermeister’s public opposition to a controversial feature that CEO Sam Altman had announced in October — ChatGPT’s proposed adult mode, which would allow users to engage in sexually explicit conversations with the chatbot. Beiermeister had also established an internal peer-mentorship group for women at OpenAI, according to the Journal.
The concept of an adult mode has been under consideration at OpenAI for an extended period. A model specification document released in 2024 hinted at the potential inclusion of not-safe-for-work content, though OpenAI told Mashable at the time that the company had no plans to create AI-generated pornography.
More recently, Altman appeared to modify his stance, emphasizing the feature would focus on mature conversations rather than explicit sexual content. Still, some form of cybersex capability appears to remain in development. Altman has justified this by expressing his desire to offer users significant freedom. “A lot of freedom for people to use AI in the ways that they want,” Altman stated, adding that he and OpenAI “are not the elected moral police of the world.”
The controversy has generated broader internal pushback. Sources told the Journal that an advisory council focused on well-being and AI has requested that OpenAI reconsider releasing the adult mode feature, suggesting ethical concerns extend beyond a single executive.
OpenAI’s official statement strongly suggests Beiermeister’s departure was unrelated to her opposition to the adult mode. The company acknowledged her contributions while maintaining the firing was not connected to internal policy disputes. The statement read that Beiermeister “made valuable contributions during her time at OpenAI, and her departure was not related to any issue she raised while working at the company.”
Read more at the Wall Street Journal here.
Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship.
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