Workers at OpenAI, Anthropic made to ditch company logos as it makes them targets for spies, seduction
Silicon Valley’s top AI workers are being told to hide any company logos in public as working for the hottest companies marks them as targets for spies and angry protesters.OpenAI tells staff not to wear anything bearing its logo outside their offices and trains them to watch for spies offering cash, friendship or romance.Anthropic — which has just filed for what analysts are predicting will be a record-busting Initial Public Offering on the stock market — has all but banned branded merch, reminds employees to conceal their badges when leaving the premises and has reported people trying to photograph its offices.“I strongly support this approach,” Miao Hong, managing partner of Silicon Valley Future Capital and investor in OpenAI and Anthropic, told the Post.Hong said he sees AI employees approached again-and-again by people hunting for inside information — and he doesn’t know their intentions.“Everyone wants to find out about developments and information at the cutting edge of technology.They want firsthand information.
They want to talk to these employees, but the employees generally avoid discussing anything,” he told The Post.The father of one Anthropic employee says his son and his colleagues steer clear of shop talk after work.“I also pay attention to safety and remind my child to be careful, because he can easily become a target.They try not to talk about their work at all.
They keep it more about sports, hobbies, hiking and food,” the father, who asked not to be named, told the Post.Espionage tops the list of fears.OpenAI’s security sessions warn AI rivals or spies working for rogue nations use techniques ranging from something as simple as eavesdropping in cafes to bribes, or even using romance.In one example, a stranger made small talk with an OpenAI employee at a San Francisco playground, but then steering the conversation to the employee’s work.That person was a spy, according to the Wall Street Journal.Employees are also rem...