Yann LeCun, the Chief AI Scientist at Meta, recently took to social media to criticize the employment policies of rival company OpenAI. In a sarcastic tweet, LeCun joked about working at "ClosedAI," a play on OpenAI's name, where employees would become billionaires due to the company's inflated value of "42 sextillionnollars" and "42 octillionnollars."

LeCun's commentary highlighted the restrictive measures in OpenAI's contracts, including limitations on employees' rights, vesting clawback provisions, and non-disclosure and non-disparagement clauses that apply even after an employee leaves the company or speaks out against it.

This criticism comes in the wake of revelations that OpenAI has faced backlash over its employment agreements. The contracts allegedly contained provisions that restricted employees from freely disposing of their equity unless they refrained from criticizing the company, sparking a debate about the legality and ethics of such practices.

In response to the public scrutiny, OpenAI made changes to address these concerns. CEO Sam Altman and other managers held a meeting with employees to address the issues, and the company eliminated the problematic sections from its contracts. Most former employees are no longer bound by non-disparagement clauses, a move that Altman acknowledged was an embarrassing policy change.

OpenAI also published a statement explaining that it has always allowed former employees to sell their shares at market price, regardless of their status or affiliation, and plans to continue this practice in the future. However, some, including former employee Jacob Hilton, remain skeptical about the company's commitment to transparency and fairness in handling employee equity.