Overview
- The Justice Department announced on Tuesday that OpenAI OpCo LLC and its subsidiary Statsig agreed to a $3.2 million civil settlement to resolve allegations they favored temporary visa holders when recruiting for certain green-card‑sponsored roles.
- The payment breaks down into $1.2 million in civil penalties to the U.S. government and a $2 million fund to compensate U.S. workers who may have been harmed by the companies’ recruitment practices.
- DOJ investigators found the companies failed to post some PERM positions publicly, required mailed paper applications for those roles and placed late‑night radio ads, practices the department said discouraged qualified U.S. applicants.
- Under the settlement OpenAI must post PERM openings on its public careers site, accept electronic applications, train relevant staff on anti‑discrimination rules, revise hiring policies and submit approved policies and semi‑annual reports to DOJ for multi‑year monitoring.
- The case is the Justice Department’s 13th action under its Protecting U.S. Workers Initiative since 2025, and it highlights the tension between tech firms’ global hiring needs and legal duties to give U.S. workers a genuine chance to compete.