Sam Altman backs Amodei's call for independent evaluators with employee-level access, and OpenAI will follow suit.
anthropic openai
| Source: Techmeme | Original article
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman announced the company will adopt independent evaluators with employee‑level access, echoing Dario Amodei’s recommendation.
OpenAI’s chief executive Sam Altman has publicly aligned himself with Anthropic’s Dario Amodei on a concrete safety step: granting third‑party evaluators permanent, employee‑level access to OpenAI’s systems. In a post on X, Altman called the proposal “a great idea” and said OpenAI will adopt the same model, adding that the industry must “pace the frontier” of AI development.
The move follows Amodei’s February essay urging the sector to slow the rollout of ever more powerful models and his company’s unilateral pledge to let independent auditors inspect its safety controls with the same depth of access afforded to internal staff. As we reported on 13 September, Amodei’s call sparked a wave of commentary from researchers and executives, highlighting a growing consensus that existing self‑regulation may be insufficient.
Altman’s endorsement signals that the idea is gaining traction at the highest level of the most influential AI lab. By opening its code, data pipelines and training runs to external reviewers, OpenAI hopes to provide transparent evidence that safety guardrails are being met, potentially easing regulator and public concerns about unchecked model capabilities.
The announcement also places pressure on other leading labs to match the standard, and could shape forthcoming policy discussions in Europe and the United States, where lawmakers are debating mandatory audit regimes. Watch for a detailed rollout plan from OpenAI, including the criteria for evaluator selection and the scope of access granted. Equally important will be any response from competitors—whether they adopt similar auditor frameworks or push back—and how regulators incorporate these voluntary measures into formal oversight frameworks. The next weeks could determine whether independent evaluation becomes an industry norm or remains a niche experiment.
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