Trump DOJ to Oversee OpenAI Green-Card Sponsorships
▼ Summary
– The Justice Department settled with OpenAI and Statsig over hiring practices, requiring three years of oversight and a $3.2 million payment, including a $1.2 million fine and $2 million for restitution.
– The DOJ alleged the companies violated the Immigration and Nationality Act by failing to genuinely recruit qualified U.S. citizens for jobs tied to permanent residence sponsorship, using tactics like avoiding public job boards and requiring paper applications.
– The companies did not admit wrongdoing, and the settlement covers fewer than 10 roles, with oversight requiring approved hiring policies and semiannual reports on applicant and interview statistics.
– The DOJ began investigating both companies separately in August 2025, covering five cases at OpenAI from 2023 to 2025 and one at Statsig, before OpenAI acquired Statsig in September 2025.
– The settlement is part of a broader DOJ crackdown, though similar INA enforcement occurred under previous administrations, such as settlements with Facebook and Apple during Biden’s tenure.
The Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division has announced a settlement with OpenAI and its former subsidiary Statsig, placing the AI company under federal oversight for the next three years regarding its hiring practices.
Federal authorities accused the companies of employing strategies that discouraged U. S. citizens from applying for positions that were ultimately filled by immigrant workers sponsored for permanent residency. While neither company admitted liability, they agreed to a $3.2 million settlement. This includes a $1.2 million penalty, with the remaining $2 million reserved for potential restitution to American applicants if the DOJ identifies individuals harmed by the practices.
The government’s case centered on alleged violations of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) . Specifically, the DOJ claimed OpenAI and Statsig failed to conduct genuine searches for qualified U. S. workers before filing PERM applications, which are required for permanent residence sponsorship. According to the complaint, the companies deliberately limited their candidate pools by omitting roles from public job boards, airing radio advertisements during late-night hours, and mandating paper-only applications instead of accepting electronic submissions.
Although the investigation covered fewer than ten positions, the settlement imposes significant compliance requirements. OpenAI must now draft and receive approval for its PERM-related hiring policies and submit semiannual reports to the DOJ. These reports must detail the number of foreign worker sponsorships pursued, the count of U. S. citizens interviewed, and other relevant hiring metrics.
The case has a complicated corporate history. OpenAI acquired the AI testing firm Statsig in September 2025, then divested part of the business in May 2026. However, the DOJ’s investigation began earlier, in August 2025, and examined both entities separately. The inquiry covered five cases at OpenAI spanning 2023 to 2025, plus one additional case at Statsig.
This action reflects a broader enforcement push by the current administration on such practices. Yet the INA, which dates back to 1952, has been actively enforced by previous administrations against major tech firms. During the Biden era, both Facebook and Apple entered into similar settlements, though those cases involved allegations of widespread and systematic violations across their operations.
(Source: TechCrunch)
