California lawmakers are trying to regulate AI before it's too late. Here's how

For four years, Jacob Hilton worked for one of the most influential startups in the Bay Area -- OpenAI. His research helped test and improve the truthfulness of AI models such as ChatGPT. He believes artificial intelligence can benefit society, but he also recognizes the serious risks if the technology is left unchecked. Hilton was among 13 current and former OpenAI and Google employees who this month signed an open letter that called for more whistleblower protections, citing broad confidentiality agreements as problematic. "The basic situation is that employees, the people closest to the technology, they're also the ones with the most to lose from being retaliated against for speaking up," says Hilton, 33, now a researcher at the nonprofit Alignment Research Center, who lives in Berkeley.