OpenAI has agreed to pay $3.2 million to settle allegations by the U.S. Department of Justice that it discriminated against American job seekers by favoring foreign workers on temporary employment visas during its hiring process.
The settlement, announced on Tuesday, also covers Statsig, a product development software company affiliated with OpenAI.
The Justice Department alleged that the two companies used recruiting practices that discouraged U.S. workers from applying for certain jobs while recruiting foreign nationals.
What was the case about?
According to the department, U.S. applicants were sometimes required to mail paper job applications instead of applying online. Prosecutors also alleged that some positions were advertised on late-night radio and not posted on publicly accessible job websites, making them harder for American workers to find.
The Justice Department said those hiring practices helped support the recruitment of foreign workers seeking temporary employment visas while limiting opportunities for qualified U.S. applicants.
OpenAI did not immediately respond to the announcement. In the settlement agreement, however, the company denied any wrongdoing and did not admit liability.
The case is one of the most prominent employment discrimination actions the Justice Department has brought against a technology company.
Since last year, the department has reached more than a dozen settlements involving allegations that employers favored foreign workers over U.S. applicants. Most of those cases involved smaller technology firms, making the OpenAI settlement one of the highest-profile actions to date.
The allegations center on the hiring process used when companies sponsor foreign employees for temporary work visas.
Under U.S. law, employers seeking to hire workers through certain visa programs must first demonstrate that qualified American workers were given a fair opportunity to apply for those jobs.
The Justice Department alleged that OpenAI and Statsig failed to meet that standard by making it unnecessarily difficult for U.S. workers to discover or apply for some openings.
Visa hiring practices remain under political spotlight
The settlement also comes as the use of temporary employment visas continues to attract political attention.
President Donald Trump has repeatedly argued that some companies misuse visa programs to hire foreign workers instead of Americans, particularly in the technology sector.
As part of that broader push, the administration proposed imposing a $100,000 fee on new H-1B visas, which are widely used to recruit highly skilled foreign workers. The proposal has been temporarily blocked while legal challenges continue.
The Justice Department has also stepped up enforcement of employment discrimination rules tied to visa sponsorship, signaling that employers must follow strict recruitment standards before hiring workers from abroad.
For OpenAI, the settlement comes during a period of rapid growth as the company expands its artificial intelligence business and continues hiring globally.
Although the company denied the allegations, the case highlights the growing scrutiny technology firms face over their hiring practices, particularly as policymakers and regulators pay closer attention to how companies balance international recruitment with opportunities for U.S. workers.
