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Leopold Aschenbrenner, age 22, reportedly refused OpenAI's secret…

2026-08-07 · 17:48 UTC ·@cryptopunk7213 ·1 min read

Brief

Leopold Aschenbrenner, 22, refused OpenAI's secret non‑disparagement off‑boarding clause and reportedly gave up $5–10M+ in equity to keep speaking rights. He then authored a 165‑page essay, raised $250M and is claimed to have grown it into $45 billion in two years, while OpenAI HR cited his memo about broken security as a key reason for firing.

Why it matters

Leopold Aschenbrenner, age 22, reportedly refused OpenAI's secret non‑disparagement off‑boarding clause when fired, foregoing an estimated $5–10M+ in OpenAI equity to preserve his right to speak.

Key details

  • He then wrote a 165‑page essay, raised $250M, and turned that into $45 billion within two years.
  • OpenAI HR told Leopold a major reason for his firing was a memo he sent the board warning that OpenAI's security was broken; Dwarkesh Patel says only Leopold and @DKokotajlo refused the clause and praises Leopold as principled and resilient.
Source evidence

so you're telling me leopold gave up $5-10M+ of openai equity when he was fired just so he could speak his mind?

then wrote a 165 page essay detailing his conviction, raised $250M, turned that into $45 billion in 2 years?

yeah he might be young, might have learned some v expensive lessons but you can't deny the balls of steel on this guy gdamn.

Dwarkesh Patel (@dwarkesh_sp)

OpenAI HR told Leopold that a major reason for his firing was the memo he'd sent the board warning how broken OAI's security was.

What happened next makes me even prouder to call him a friend.

People may have forgotten, but up until 2024, OpenAI had this secret non-disparagement clause in their off-boarding agreement. If you didn’t sign it, they'd clawback all your equity.

As far as I'm aware, there were only two people ever who didn’t sign it - @DKokotajlo, and Leopold Aschenbrenner.

Of all the researchers who left OpenAI before 2024, who had far more to fall back on, Leopold, all of 22 years old, was one of the only ones willing to refuse the golden handcuffs, and say, "I want to preserve my right to talk about safety and security at OAI.”

We have a lot of disagreements, but he's among the most principled and resilient people I know.

— https://nitter.net/dwarkesh_sp/status/2085576301101175254#m