Special OpenAI email is apparently a direct line to Sam Altman | Mashable

Credit: Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images OpenAI employees apparently have a quick way to reach founder and CEO Sam Altman , Fortune reported. It's an e mail address, [email protected] , and its purpose is to give employees a place to report company problems that OpenAI's leadership team can triage and handle. SEE ALSO: What is OpenAI Astra? Everything we know about the new — and possibly dangerous — new model The friction@ inbox has existed for a while, according to Fortune , but its use widened when Fidji Simo joined OpenAI as CEO of Applications in the fall of 2025. Simo went on a "listening tour" to better understand problems across the company, and formalized the friction@ process. She assigned Irina Kofman, VP of strategic initiatives and operations, to monitor the inbox and ensure that issues were resolved. Simo also established a monthly, company-wide Slack update to track progress, Fortune reported. You May Also Like Simo has since left OpenAI, but these processes remain. One former OpenAI employee told Fortune that the system gives leadership an effective way to hear employee feedback. "It's a good thing — literally anybody can complain about big company bullsh*t directly to Sam, and they can act on it," the former employee told Fortune . Mashable Light Speed Want more out-of-this world tech, space and science stories? Sign up for Mashable's weekly Light Speed newsletter. Loading... Sign Me Up Use this instead By clicking Sign Me Up, you confirm you are 16+ and agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy . Thanks for signing up! Examples Fortune reported include a pilot program to prioritize parking spots for workers with longer commutes to combat full lots, and a more reliable process for granting API credits. However, a problem brought to friction@ only gets resolved if Altman and OpenAI President Greg Brockman consider it "worthy," another former employee, who led a team at the company, told Fortune . Unlike the other former OpenAI employee, this person said the process created inefficiency. Related Stories OpenAI's AI smart speaker will reportedly be shaped 'like a doughnut' ChatGPT will let you book a table mid-chat Hank Green apologizes for relying too heavily on ChatGPT Researchers watched OpenAI, Anthropic models take extreme measures in hacking test OpenAI takes Apple lawsuit to court of public opinion, posts texts "The individual who reports the issue probably thinks it's the single most important thing, but to teams like mine that are constantly underwater, under-resourced, and over-leveraged, it’s the single most disruptive thing you could do," they told Fortune. It's certainly a way for Sam Altman to get internal real-time critique. For external critique, he can go to X, like when he suggested parents make AI podcasts about their children . Disclosure: Ziff Davis, Mashable’s parent company, in April 2025 filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, alleging it infringed Ziff Davis copyrights in training and operating its AI systems. Topics OpenAI Anna Iovine Associate Editor, Features Anna Iovine is the associate editor of features at Mashable. Previously, as the sex and relationships reporter, she covered topics ranging from dating apps to pelvic pain. Before Mashable, Anna was a social editor at VICE and freelanced for publications such as Slate and the Columbia Journalism Review. Follow her on Bluesky .