A growing chorus of AI experts have recently raised concerns about risks from advanced AI models. In June 2024, nine current and former OpenAI employees wrote an open letter criticizing their employer for “recklessly racing” to build artificial general intelligence, or AGI. One of these individuals, Daniel Kokotaljo, spoke out notwithstanding that OpenAI initially conditioned his equity, worth approximately $1.7 million, on compliance with a non-disparagement agreement. Another whistleblower, Suchir Balaji, died by suicide only months after he accused OpenAI of violating US copyright law. And an anonymous survey from 2024 showed that many employees of other leading AI labs — including DeepMind, Meta, and Anthropic — also express worry about their employers’ approach to AI development.

Such employees have unique visibility into the risks that emerging AI poses. But unless these employees are adequately protected against retaliation, they may be reluctant to speak out. Fortunately, federal and state lawmakers have sought to empower them with more robust whistleblower protections. California Governor Gavin Newsom recently signed into law the Transparency in Frontier Artificial Intelligence Act (TFAIA), which protects certain whistleblowers who disclose information about potential “catastrophic risks” from AI. In Congress, Senator Chuck Grassley has introduced the AI Whistleblower Protection Act (AIWPA), which would protect whistleblowers who report on a broad range of “AI...

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