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OpenAI to pay US government $3.2M in settlement over hiring foreign workers
Under the terms of the settlement, OpenAI will pay $1.2M in civil penalties to the US and establish a back-pay fund of $2M to compensate victims of the companies’ discriminatory practices. In addition, OpenAI will give US workers
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Ishani Duttagupta - Wed, 05, Aug 2026
- 02:27 EDT
- 19
Open AI logo / OpenAI
San Francisco-based OpenAI OpCo LLC, which is one of the world’s top artificial intelligence companies, and its Bellevue, Washington-based subsidiary, Statsig Inc, will pay a combined $3,200,000 settlement to resolve claims that the companies discriminated against US workers in violation of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) by giving preference to temporary employment visa holders during hiring and recruitment under the permanent labor certification (PERM) process. The settlement was announced by the US Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division on Tuesday.
The PERM or labor certification process is the first step to get an employment-based green card or permanent residency in the US for thousands of skilled workers employed on non-immigrant work visas such as the H-1B. OpenAI is a sponsor for H-1B visas and green cards for specialised technical roles including software engineers and AI researchers, with application numbers increasing significantly over the past few years.
“It is illegal to discriminate against US workers by preferring temporary visa holders for jobs,” said assistant attorney general Harmeet K. Dhillon of the justice department’s civil rights division in a press release. “This substantial settlement ensures that OpenAI redresses harm and changes its recruitment practices so that US workers receive a fair opportunity for highly sought-after technology positions.”
The department’s investigation found that OpenAI did not advertise positions it sought to fill through the PERM programme on its external job website, even though its standard practice was to do so with other jobs. “OpenAI also required applicants to mail paper applications for positions advertised as part of PERM recruitment, even though the company permitted electronic applications for other positions. In addition, OpenAI took other steps to discourage US workers from applying, such as advertising positions on the radio late at night. While there were fewer than ten PERM positions at issue, the resolution amount reflects the harm to US workers when they are shut out of applying for lucrative technology jobs,” the Department of Justice press release said.
Under the terms of the settlement, OpenAI will pay $1,200,000 in civil penalties to the United States and establish a back-pay fund of $2,000,000 to compensate victims of the companies’ discriminatory practices. In addition, OpenAI will give US workers fair opportunities to apply for jobs as part of PERM recruitment by posting the positions on its public career website and accepting electronic applications. The agreement also requires OpenAI to train its personnel on the INA’s anti-discrimination requirements, revise its employment policies, and be subject to departmental monitoring and reporting requirements, to prevent future discrimination.
“The PERM programme allows employers to sponsor workers for permanent resident status if the companies perform good-faith recruitment, but cannot find qualified US workers. However, during this process, companies cannot illegally discriminate against US workers based on their citizenship status,” the press release said.
This settlement is the thirteenth settlement since the department re-launched its Protecting US Workers Initiative in 2025 to enforce the INA’s prohibition on citizenship status discrimination against companies that illegally discriminate against US workers in favour of those with employment visas. Under these settlements, the department obtains civil penalties for each violation and will continue to seek the maximum penalty permitted by law. The settlements may involve awards of back pay, when warranted. They also require employers to conduct comprehensive training for relevant staff and recruiters and cease restricting consideration for job opportunities based on workers’ citizenship status without a lawful reason.
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