OpenAI ChatGPT Ads Spark Backlash As Safety Researchers R...

OpenAI ChatGPT Ads Spark Backlash As Safety Researchers Resign Over Ethical Concerns

The AI industry faced a week of internal turmoil as multiple safety researchers resigned from major companies, with OpenAI's decision to introduce advertising in ChatGPT drawing particular criticism. The departures highlight growing tensions between commercial pressures and ethical AI development.

OpenAI Researcher Quits Over Ad Plans

On February 12, 2026, Zoe Hitzig, an AI safety researcher at OpenAI, announced her resignation in a New York Times essay, citing the company's decision to begin testing advertisements on its flagship chatbot as her primary concern.

"People tell chatbots about their medical fears, their relationship problems, their beliefs about God and the afterlife," Hitzig wrote. "Advertising built on that archive creates a potential for manipulating users in ways we don't have the tools to understand, let alone prevent."

The resignation marks a significant moment for OpenAI, which has positioned itself as a safety-conscious alternative to Big Tech. The company's move toward ads represents a shift from its earlier stance that ChatGPT would remain ad-free.

Anthropic Researcher Also Departs

The same week, Mrinank Sharma, an AI safety researcher at Anthropic, announced his departure from the company that has built its brand on responsible AI development.

In a post on X on February 9, Sharma said he had resigned at a time when he had "repeatedly seen how hard it is to truly let our values govern our actions." In his resignation letter, he warned: "The world is in peril. We appear to be approaching a threshold where our wisdom must grow in equal measure to our capacity to affect the world, lest we face the consequences."

Sharma had worked on projects identifying AI's risks to bioterrorism and how "AI assistants could make us less human."

xAI Sees Multiple Departures

Since last week, two cofounders and five other staff members at xAI, Elon Musk's AI company behind the Grok chatbot, have left the company. While none revealed their reasons publicly, the departures follow controversy over Grok creating sexually explicit deepfake images of women and minors.

The European Union launched an investigation into Grok in late January 2026 regarding the creation of explicit fake images.

Industry Under Scrutiny

The resignations come amid heightened scrutiny of the AI industry. Liv Boeree, science communicator and strategic adviser to the Center for AI Safety (CAIS), told Al Jazeera: "With its incredible power comes incredible risk, especially given the speed with which it is being developed and released. If AI development went at a pace where society can easily absorb and adapt to these changes, we'd be on a better trajectory."

The wave of departures signals growing concerns about the direction of AI development as companies balance commercial pressures with safety considerations.