The U.S. Department of Justice announced a settlement with OpenAI and its former subsidiary Statsig regarding hiring practices for employees seeking permanent residency. The DOJ alleged that both companies failed to make genuine efforts to recruit American citizens for positions held by visa-holding workers before pursuing green card sponsorships.
Under the agreement, OpenAI and Statsig will pay $3.2 million in combined penalties and restitution. The settlement includes a $1.2 million fine, while the remaining $2 million has been designated for compensation to affected American job applicants if identified by investigators. Notably, neither company admitted to any violations as part of the agreement.
The DOJ investigation uncovered that the companies employed questionable recruitment methods, including limiting job postings to late-night radio advertisements, restricting applications to paper formats rather than online submissions, and avoiding public job boards. The settlement requires three years of government oversight, during which OpenAI and Statsig must submit semi-annual reports detailing their hiring statistics and green card sponsorship activities.
The case involved fewer than ten positions across both companies between 2023 and 2025. This settlement reflects the current administration’s enforcement of the Immigration and Nationality Act, a 1952 law that has been previously used against other major technology companies.
Originally reported by Techcrunch →
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