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By Dan Gooding
Associate News Editor
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Tech company OpenAI agreed on a $3.2 million settlement with the Trump administration Monday, after it was found to have discriminated against American workers while recruiting for certain jobs linked to the employment-based immigration process.
The case follows reporting by Newsweek last year highlighting how some technology companies advertised green card-related positions in ways that were difficult for U.S. job seekers to find.
The settlement, announced Tuesday by the Department of Justice (DOJ) Civil Rights Division, resolves claims that OpenAI and its subsidiary Statsig favored foreign workers with temporary employment visas during recruitment conducted through the Permanent Labor Certification (PERM) process.
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The PERM system allows employers to sponsor workers for permanent residency, usually H-1B holders, if they first make a good-faith effort to recruit qualified U.S. workers.
According to federal investigators, OpenAI failed to advertise some PERM-related jobs on its public careers website, required applicants to submit paper applications rather than electronic ones and in some instances advertised openings through late-night radio spots. The DOJ said those practices discouraged U.S. workers from applying for positions that the company intended to use as part of the PERM process.
"It is illegal to discriminate against U.S. workers by preferring temporary visa holders for jobs," Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon said in a statement announcing the agreement.
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What OpenAI Will Pay
Under the settlement, OpenAI will pay $1.2 million in civil penalties and create a $2 million backpay fund for workers allegedly harmed by the recruitment practices identified by investigators.
The company also agreed to modify its hiring procedures, advertise PERM positions on its public careers site, accept electronic applications, revise employment policies, train personnel on immigration-related anti-discrimination requirements and submit to federal monitoring and reporting provisions.
The settlement agreement states that OpenAI denies wrongdoing and does not admit violating federal law. The agreement resolves investigations launched by the DOJ beginning in August 2025. Investigators said they found reasonable cause to believe that OpenAI engaged in a pattern or practice of citizenship-status discrimination tied to several PERM advertisements dating to at least 2023.
OpenAI Pushes Back
In a statement provided to Newsweek, an OpenAI spokesperson said the company disagreed with the government's conclusions but chose to resolve the matter.
"OpenAI's mission is to ensure that AGI [artificial general intelligence] benefits all of humanity. Fulfilling that mission and maintaining America's leadership in AI requires attracting and retaining the best talent from the United States and around the world," the spokesperson said.
"While we disagree with the DOJ's findings, we reached this agreement to resolve the matter and move forward with our PERM program, which is critical for employees and candidates requiring immigration support."
The Justice Department did not immediately respond to Newsweek's request for additional comment.
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Connection to Newsweek's Earlier Reporting
The settlement comes months after a Newsweek investigation examined how companies pursuing green cards for workers through the PERM process sometimes used recruitment methods that made job openings difficult for ordinary applicants to locate.
The August 2025 article highlighted examples of employers placing legally required recruitment advertisements in newspapers and other venues that many modern job seekers rarely see, including OpenAI. The investigation examined concerns that the PERM process can create situations in which employers appear to conduct recruitment while already intending to sponsor a specific foreign worker for permanent residence.
The DOJ's investigation into OpenAI started around the time Newsweek reached out to the department about the postings the company had shared, and covered listings from a similar time period.
Jobs Now, a website seeking to uncover potential H-1B PERM process abuses and advertise roles to American workers, told Newsweek that it was pleased the DOJ had taken action.
"We were deeply concerned last year when we saw OpenAI advertising for job applicants to use paper mail to submit their resumes to staff within their global mobility department, a function that normally works on immigration processing rather than hiring, and we encouraged our users to apply," a spokesperson said.
The Justice Department's allegations against OpenAI centered on similar questions about whether U.S. workers were given a meaningful opportunity to compete for positions before foreign workers were sponsored through the immigration system.
According to the settlement agreement, investigators found that applicants for certain PERM positions were required to mail paper applications even though electronic submissions were accepted for other roles, creating an additional barrier that was not required under federal immigration rules.
"While the $2M fund for backpay to impacted American workers is valuable compensation, we believe that fines of this size are too small to discourage widespread abuse of PERM applications by big tech and other industries; this is clear from the fact that OpenAI is still using these tactics despite previous settlements for the same PERM tactics by Facebook and Apple in 2021 and 2023 respectively," the Jobs Now spokesperson said.
Why the Case Matters
The settlement is one of the highest-profile actions taken by the Trump administration's Justice Department as it ramps up scrutiny of employment practices involving foreign-worker sponsorship programs. Federal officials said fewer than 10 positions were directly at issue but argued the size of the settlement reflected the broader harm caused when qualified U.S. workers are prevented from competing for highly paid technology jobs.
The case also arrives amid a broader national debate over the role of H-1B visa holders and employment-based immigration in the technology industry. Supporters argue that companies need access to global talent to maintain U.S. leadership in emerging fields such as artificial intelligence, while critics contend that some employers use immigration pathways in ways that disadvantage American workers.
OpenAI, whose rapid rise has placed it at the center of the global AI boom, said resolving the dispute would allow it to continue operating its immigration sponsorship programs while complying with the agreement's terms.
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What Happens Next
The settlement will remain in effect for three years, during which OpenAI and Statsig will be subject to DOJ monitoring and reporting requirements designed to ensure compliance with federal anti-discrimination laws governing recruitment tied to the PERM process.
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