OpenAI Employees Can Email Sam Altman When Work Gets Stuck And Cut Through Bureaucracy

OpenAI employees who believe bureaucracy is getting in the way of their work have an unusual route for escalating the problem: an internal email address that can put their concerns in front of CEO Sam Altman and other senior executives.

The channel, known as "friction," is designed to identify and remove obstacles that might otherwise become stuck within OpenAI's management structure. It offers a glimpse into how the ChatGPT maker is trying to preserve its fast-moving culture while developing into a much larger global technology company.

Employees can email the address about problems ranging from technical roadblocks to relatively mundane workplace issues such as parking, Fortune reported, citing current and former employees. Senior executives, including President Greg Brockman, can become involved, while some issues may reach Altman directly.

The system can also carry considerable weight. Once a problem is escalated, addressing it may take priority over much of a team's existing work, creating a direct way to bypass normal organizational bottlenecks.

Former employees offered differing assessments of the process. One told the outlet that it gave senior management valuable visibility into problems deeper within the company, while a former team leader who received dozens of friction emails said the interruptions could themselves become disruptive.

The friction system predates Fidji Simo's arrival at OpenAI, but the former Instacart CEO helped formalize the process after joining the company to oversee its applications business.

Her appointment was part of a broader restructuring that shifted major operational responsibilities away from Altman. CNBC reported when Simo was named CEO of applications that she would oversee OpenAI's business and operational teams, allowing Altman to concentrate more heavily on research, computing and safety.

Simo later stepped away from the full-time role because of health issues, leaving OpenAI to redistribute those responsibilities. The leadership changes have come as the company expands well beyond its roots as an AI research lab into consumer products, enterprise software, coding tools and massive computing infrastructure projects.

Meanwhile, OpenAI has been trying to prevent that expansion from spreading its resources too thin. The Wall Street Journal reported earlier this year that executives were reviewing projects that could be deprioritized, with Simo telling employees the company needed to eliminate "side quests" and focus on its most important work.

The friction email fits into that broader effort. OpenAI needs more structure as its workforce and product portfolio expand, but additional management layers can also slow decisions at a time when competition from Google, Anthropic and other AI developers is intensifying.