The Story 'We don't understand the consequences' - Why I quit OpenAI - The Sunday Story
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Feb 15, 2026 Mark Sellman, technology correspondent at The Times, and Zoe Hitzig, a former OpenAI research scientist who resigned over ethics, discuss recent high-profile AI resignations. They talk about advertising on conversational AI, risks to user trust and privacy, AI capturing private thoughts, automation and job disruption, and where AI safety and regulation might head next.
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Why Zoe Joined — And Why She Left
- Zoe Hitzig joined OpenAI because it promised intense, ambitious work on AI's social impacts.
- She left when she concluded those goals were no longer achievable inside the company after advertising plans emerged.
Withhold Trust Until Protections Exist
- Avoid business models that directly tie profit to user attention before social effects are understood.
- Demand stronger protections and withhold trust until firms commit to not abusing intimate user data.
Chatbots Create New Privacy Stakes
- Advertising creates a direct incentive to maximize engagement, risking addictive or manipulative behavior.
- ChatGPT differs from past platforms because it can capture private thoughts, creating an unprecedented archive of human candour.