Resigned over ChatGPT advertising plans. Wrote a New York Times op-ed warning that OpenAI would exploit users' intimate conversational data to serve targeted ads.

Left after concluding it had become difficult to publish research that didn't align with OpenAI's commercial interests. Accused the economic research team of functioning as a 'de facto advocacy arm' rather than conducting genuine research, specifically citing suppression of findings about AI's negative economic impacts.

Said 'Neither OpenAI nor any other frontier lab is ready' for AGI. Noted OpenAI placed increasingly restrictive limits on what he could publish. The AGI Readiness team was disbanded after his departure.

Left over concerns about copyright law violations in ChatGPT's training data. Said 'If you believe what I believe, you have to just leave the company.' Became a whistleblower. Found dead in his apartment on November 26, 2024.

Fired after raising cybersecurity concerns internally and sharing a security memo with board members. OpenAI cited a separate alleged information leak as the reason for termination; Aschenbrenner said the security memo was a major factor. Later published the influential 'Situational Awareness' essay arguing AGI is imminent and labs are unprepared.