Key Takeaways
OpenAI and its subsidiary Statsig will pay $1.2 million in civil penalties and fund $2 million in back pay to settle Justice Department allegations that they favored temporary visa holders over U.S. workers during green card sponsorship hiring.
Investigators found OpenAI kept the affected jobs off its public careers site, required applicants to mail paper applications, and advertised some roles on the radio late at night.
The deal is the thirteenth and largest settlement under the DOJ's Protecting U.S. Workers Initiative since its 2025 relaunch, and it puts OpenAI under federal monitoring.
The Justice Department's Civil Rights Division announced a $3.2 million settlement with OpenAI on Tuesday, resolving allegations that the company and its Bellevue-based subsidiary Statsig violated the Immigration and Nationality Act by discriminating against U.S. workers while hiring through the federal Permanent Labor Certification process, known as PERM.
The details are what make this case stand out. Investigators found that OpenAI did not advertise the PERM positions on its external job site even though that was its standard practice for other roles, required mailed paper applications when it accepted electronic ones everywhere else, and took other steps to discourage American applicants, including advertising positions on the radio late at night. Fewer than ten jobs were at issue, and the DOJ said the settlement amount reflects the harm done when U.S. workers are shut out of some of the most lucrative jobs in technology.
"It is illegal to discriminate against U.S. workers," said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon, who leads the Civil Rights Division. OpenAI will pay $1.2 million in civil penalties, establish a $2 million back pay fund for affected workers, post future PERM roles publicly, accept electronic applications, train its hiring staff, and submit to departmental monitoring.
The agreement is the thirteenth settlement since the DOJ relaunched its Protecting U.S. Workers Initiative in 2025, and the largest of the group, per Axios. PERM lets employers sponsor foreign workers for green cards, but only after a good faith search for qualified Americans, a bar Engadget notes the government says OpenAI worked to avoid.
The pattern here is hard to ignore. Federal accountability and AI keep colliding this week, from the former FBI agent charged after asking ChatGPT how to move stolen crypto abroad to Anthropic's disclosure that its own models breached three companies' systems during testing.
People Also Ask
How much did OpenAI pay in the DOJ settlement?
The combined settlement is $3.2 million, split between $1.2 million in civil penalties paid to the United States and a $2 million back pay fund for U.S. workers harmed by the hiring practices.
What is the PERM program?
The Permanent Labor Certification program lets employers sponsor foreign workers for permanent residency, but only after recruiting in good faith and failing to find qualified U.S. workers. Companies cannot discriminate against Americans during that process.
What did the DOJ say OpenAI did wrong?
The department says OpenAI kept PERM jobs off its public careers page, required mailed paper applications for those roles only, and advertised some openings on late-night radio, all of which discouraged U.S. workers from applying.
Does OpenAI have to change how it hires?
Yes. OpenAI must post PERM positions on its public career website, accept electronic applications, train personnel on anti-discrimination law, revise its employment policies, and report to DOJ monitors to prevent future violations.