OpenAI axes exec for alleged inappropriate discrimination after she objected to ChatGPT erotica plan: report | Latest Tech News
OpenAI has fired a feminine govt for alleged inappropriate discrimination against a male colleague — after she objected to the company’s plan to roll out an “adult mode” permitting erotic conversations on ChatGPT.
Ryan Beiermeister, who served as vice president of product coverage, strongly denied the allegation of sex-based discrimination, according to the Wall Street Journal.
“The allegation that I discriminated against anyone is absolutely false,” she told the paper.
Ryan Beiermeister, OpenAI’s former vice president of product coverage, was fired in January after being accused of inappropriate discrimination — an allegation she has denied. Paris Peace Forum
Beiermeister is departing after having “made valuable contributions during her time at OpenAI,” the company told the Journal, including that her exit “was not related to any issue she raised while working at the company.”
Beiermeister, whose tech profession has included stints at Palantir and Meta, joined OpenAI in June 2024.
She led the product coverage crew that crafts guidelines for how people can use OpenAI’s merchandise and helps design enforcement mechanisms for those insurance policies.
Before she was fired, Beiermeister reportedly told colleagues she was against “adult mode” and anxious about its potential dangerous results.
She also said OpenAI’s strategy to blocking child-exploitation content was insufficient and efforts to keep teenagers from accessing grownup content have been inadequate, according to the Journal.
She reportedly took a depart of absence before returning to work last month, with OpenAI firing her in early January, according to people acquainted with the matter. Details of the alleged discrimination weren’t identified.
The Post has sought remark from OpenAI and Beiermeister.
During her time at OpenAI, Beiermeister launched a peer mentorship program for girls at the business, according to the Journal.
Her ouster got here forward of OpenAI’s deliberate launch early this yr of an “adult mode” that would enable adult-themed dialog, including inappropriate topics, for age-verified customers.
Sam Altman, OpenAI’s chief govt, wrote on X in October that the company deliberate to develop what was permitted on ChatGPT as it rolled out stronger age limitations.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has defended the company’s plan to enable erotica on ChatGPT for age-verified adults. REUTERS
We made ChatGPT fairly restrictive to make sure we have been being cautious with mental health points. We notice this made it less useful/pleasurable to many customers who had no mental health issues, but given the seriousness of the issue we needed to get this proper.
Now that we’ve got…
— Sam Altman (@sama) October 14, 2025
“In December, as we roll out age-gating more fully and as part of our ‘treat adult users like adults’ principle, we will allow even more, like erotica for verified adults,” he wrote.
Beiermeister is one of a number of OpenAI workers who have raised issues about the “adult mode” rollout, according to the paper.
Steven Adler, a former OpenAI worker who led product security at the company and labored there from December 2020 to November 2024, warned in a New York Times opinion essay that OpenAI shouldn’t be trusted to offer erotica without publicly proving it has addressed critical mental health dangers.
OpenAI’s ChatGPT chatbot is set to introduce an “adult mode” that would allow erotic conversations for verified grownup customers. Ascannio – stock.adobe.com
Adler wrote that he uncovered a “crisis” involving erotic role-playing content in spring 2021, citing an analysis that discovered over 30% of gamers’ conversations have been “explicitly lewd,” and warned of “intense emotional attachment” to chatbots.
He argued OpenAI has moved too shortly under aggressive stress and urged the company to “show its work,” including through clear reporting, to reveal safeguards are efficient as it expands grownup content.
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