Helen Toner

Helen Toner worked as a senior research analyst at Open Philanthropy, advising policymakers and grantmakers on AI policy and strategy, and then lived in Beijing studying the Chinese AI industry as a research affiliate of the Center for the Governance of AI at Oxford University. When Open Philanthropy made its grant of 55 million dollars to Georgetown University in January 2019 to launch the Center for Security and Emerging Technology under Jason Matheny, the grant page listed Toner on the founding team as CSET's director of strategy and plans, alongside the former CIA China analyst William Hannas. The grant was investigated by Luke Muehlhauser of Open Philanthropy.¹ She later held the title of director of strategy and foundational research grants at CSET.²

The OpenAI Board

Toner sat on the nonprofit board of OpenAI, the body that on November 17, 2023, removed Sam Altman as chief executive, saying that he "was not consistently candid in his communications with the board, hindering its ability to exercise its responsibilities." Within a week Altman was reinstated, and Toner and Tasha McCauley, who had voted for his removal, left the board; Ilya Sutskever gave up his seat, and Adam D'Angelo, who had also voted to remove Altman, stayed. In March 2024 OpenAI announced that a review by the law firm WilmerHale had concluded "there was a significant breakdown of trust between the prior board and Sam and Greg," in the words of board chair Bret Taylor, and that the board "acted in good faith."²

On The TED AI Show in May 2024, Toner said that "for years, Sam had made it really difficult for the board to actually do that job by withholding information, misrepresenting things that were happening at the company, in some cases outright lying to the board." She said the board learned of the release of ChatGPT in November 2022 on Twitter, that Altman had not told the board he owned the OpenAI startup fund, and that in October 2023 two executives had given the board screenshots and documentation and "used the phrase 'psychological abuse.'" OpenAI did not respond to CNBC at the time.²