OpenAI’s internal “Friction” email system lets staff report workplace bottlenecks directly to leadership, and it has already helped fix real issues, such as improving the process for granting API credits and testing a new parking system for employees with long commutes. In 2025, when Fidji Simo was CEO of Applications, she made the system even more open by gathering feedback from employees and sharing monthly Slack updates so employees could track progress on reported concerns. Even after Simo left last month, Friction is still going strong, functioning similarly to Amazon’s famous “Jeff B escalations,” where big problems go straight to the top to get solved fast.