Trump DOJ Catches OpenAI Hiding Jobs From Americans to Hire Foreigners – Now They’re Going to Pay

Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division announced on Tuesday that the DOJ has reached a settlement with artificial intelligence company OpenAI for discriminating against American workers.

This is the latest in a series of legal actions the Trump administration’s Justice Department has taken against companies that prioritize hiring immigrants over U.S. citizens.

From the Justice Department:

The Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division announced today that it has secured a combined $3,200,000 settlement with OpenAI OpCo LLC, a San Francisco, California-based artificial intelligence company, and its subsidiary, Statsig Inc., a Bellevue, Washington-based software development company (together, OpenAI). The settlement addresses allegations that both companies violated the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) by discriminating against U.S. workers and instead preferred workers with temporary employment visas, when the companies hired and recruited during the Permanent Labor Certification (PERM) process.

“It is illegal to discriminate against U.S. workers by preferring temporary visa holders for jobs,” said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “This substantial settlement ensures that OpenAI redresses harm and changes its recruitment practices so that U.S. workers receive a fair opportunity for highly sought-after technology positions.”

The Department’s investigation found that OpenAI did not advertise positions it sought to fill through the PERM program on its external job website, even though its standard practice was to do so with other jobs. OpenAI also required applicants to mail paper applications for positions advertised as part of PERM recruitment, even though the company permitted electronic applications for other positions. In addition, OpenAI took other steps to discourage U.S. workers from applying, such as advertising positions on the radio late at night. While there were fewer than ten PERM positions at issue, the resolution amount reflects the harm to U.S. workers when they are shut out of applying for lucrative technology jobs.

Under the terms of the settlement, OpenAI will pay $1,200,000 in civil penalties to the United States and establish a back-pay fund of $2,000,000 to compensate victims of the companies’ discriminatory practices. In addition, OpenAI will give U.S. workers fair opportunities to apply for jobs as part of PERM recruitment by posting the positions on its public career website and accepting electronic applications. The agreement also requires OpenAI to train its personnel on the INA’s anti-discrimination requirements, revise its employment policies, and be subject to departmental monitoring and reporting requirements, to prevent future discrimination.

We secured a $3.2 million settlement with OpenAI for discriminating against U.S. workers. Employers must recruit U.S. workers in good faith when sponsoring temporary visa workers for permanent residency via the PERM process. @CivilRights will hold violators accountable!…

— AAGHarmeetDhillon (@AAGDhillon) August 4, 2026

Under President Donald Trump’s second term, the Justice Department has taken action against several companies accused of favoring temporary visa holders over U.S. workers in hiring. According to the Department of Justice, in April 2026, it reached a $313,420 settlement with Compunnel Software Group after recruiters posted job ads that excluded U.S. citizens and permanent residents while preferring H-1B and other temporary visa holders. The company also denied a Python developer position to a U.S. citizen.

DOJ says its U.S.-worker initiative produced 10 settlements in one year, then sued Cloudera for allegedly steering high-paying tech jobs toward temporary visa workers.

American workers should not need a federal enforcement campaign to apply for American jobs.

— Dr. Josh C. Simmons (@drjoshcsimmons) August 3, 2026

“It’s illegal to discourage U.S. workers from applying for American jobs,” Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon said. “Employers cannot exclude U.S. workers from the labor force by discriminating against them based on their citizenship status. Employers must design recruitment, training, and compliance practices to ensure adherence to federal civil rights laws.”

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