OpenAI policy exec who opposed chatbot’s “adult mode” reportedly fired on discrimination claim

Ryan Beiermeister, who served as OpenAI’s vice president of product policy, was fired in January after a male colleague accused her of sex discrimination, the Wall Street Journal has reported.

“The allegation that I discriminated against anyone is absolutely false,” Beiermeister told the Journal. TechCrunch reached out to OpenAI for comment and also contacted an email that appears to be associated with Beiermeister; neither had responded at the time of publication.

Per the Journal’s report, Beiermeister’s termination came after she expressed criticism of a planned ChatGPT feature dubbed “adult mode.” The new mode would introduce erotica into the chatbot user experience. Fidji Simo, who serves as OpenAI’s CEO of Applications — a role overseeing the company’s consumer-facing products — has told reporters that the new feature is planned to launch during the first quarter of this year.

Beiermeister and others at the company have raised concerns about how the new “adult” feature could potentially impact certain users, according to the report.

OpenAI reportedly said that Beiermeister, who was fired following a leave of absence, had “made valuable contributions during her time at OpenAI, and her departure was not related to any issue she raised while working at the company.” 

Beiermeister’s LinkedIn profile says she previously worked for four years on Meta’s product team and spent more than seven years working for Palantir.