We live in a moment where decisions about truth, relevance, safety, and memory are being made by private AI companies—at the scale of governments, but without the consent of the governed.

OpenAI is becoming a public benefit corporation. But today, its public benefit exists more in theory than in practice. The ethics team meant to guide its conscience has dissolved. "Over the past years, safety culture and processes have taken a backseat to shiny products,” one team member wrote.

OpenAI's decisions are driven by executives and billionaires who imagine the future of humanity through the lens of techno-futurist pessimism—a seemingly narrow, dystopian vision that does not represent us all.

That’s why we are calling for Andi Mazingo to be recognized as the first Chief Ethicist chosen by the people.

Andi is an attorney with over a decade of experience advising organizations—including in AI—on ethics, governance, and law. Andi is autistic and hyper-empathetic, someone who knows what it means to stand at the edge of systems that weren’t built for them, and to listen deeply to voices too often excluded. This candidacy isn’t about power. It’s a prototype for what true democratic accountability in AI could look like.

We believe that human alignment and AI safety must reflect the full spectrum of human experience—across all religions, cultures, classes, and identities. Not just abstract principles, but the embodied realities of the least powerful among us.

This petition demands that OpenAI:

• Publicly engage with Andi’s platform for democratic AI ethics (register for a town hall HERE)
• Appoint a publicly selected Chief Ethicist to OpenAI's Board of Directors
• Re-open an ethics department spending 50% of its time engaging with diverse stakeholders

Once it reaches 100,000 signatures, our supporters will co-write an Open Letter to Sam Altman.

Sign now to join this call for moral courage, shared stewardship, and democratic oversight at the frontier of AI.
 
✉ Attribution
Petition text co-written with OpenAI’s ChatGPT-4o. Image by Megan Artisti.

Legal & Satire Disclaimer
This campaign is a form of protected political and artistic expression. While framed as a symbolic candidacy for Chief Ethicist of OpenAI, it is a work of public commentary designed to invite reflection and dialogue on AI ethics, accountability, and democratic oversight. No affiliation with OpenAI is claimed or implied.

No Misleading Affiliation Disclaimer
This campaign is not sponsored by, endorsed by, or affiliated with OpenAI, its leadership, or its shareholders. All references to OpenAI are for purposes of fair use, critique, and transformative public dialogue.