Chris Lehane
Role at the time: Global affairs lead at OpenAI briefing reporters
Defended or excused
Statement summary
Lehane said OpenAI told a sponsor of the FRONTIER Act that it can support the bill's independent verification organization requirement.
“specifically talked about how we think about IVO and made clear that we can support that”
Open source (opens in a new tab)OpenAI backs bipartisan House plan for third-party safety assessmentsReport quoting OpenAI's Chris Lehane on the FRONTIER Act independent verification provision.
Politico report timestamped 9:37 AM ET on September 15, 2026. States this is the first time OpenAI has backed a specific federal mandate for third-party safety assessors. The FRONTIER Act is sponsored by Reps. Jay Obernolte and Lori Trahan.
Why we used this label
The case proposition is that Washington should impose stronger safeguards on frontier AI. Lehane commits OpenAI to supporting a specific federal mandate requiring outside evaluators, which supports the proposition.