The company said the investigation found violations of policies for handling sensitive information and described the matter as a significant breach of trust.
The three former employees said in a public letter that they had been fired for prioritizing safety over OpenAI's near-term corporate interests. They also said the dismissals could make other employees reluctant to raise safety concerns or work with independent safety organizations. OpenAI denied that the decisions were about raising concerns, saying internal safety debates are encouraged.
OpenAI said it was finalizing contracts with third-party safety assessors and expected to announce them in coming weeks. It also agreed that preserving the monitorability of frontier models requires an industry-wide commitment. The report does not establish what sensitive information was involved, the contents of the relevant policies, the evidence considered in the investigation, or whether either side's account of the dismissals is correct.