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Yes, but not automatically or without limits. An AI lab can use a signed agreement to protect confidential information, require a prepublication review, and create procedures for redacting security, privacy or trade-secret material. Whether it can stop an evaluator from publishing a finding depends on the executed contract, the information involved and applicable law. A public principles document or program announcement may describe intended practices, but it is not necessarily the binding agreement for a particular evaluation.
What an AI lab can—and cannot—control
Outside evaluation sits between independent scholarship and a controlled-access commercial engagement. The lab may provide a model, logs, tooling or internal documentation that is not public. A contract can therefore limit disclosure of that material even when the evaluator is free to publish an analysis of publicly observable behavior. The same contract can set a review process for factual errors, privacy, security and legal compliance.
That is different from an unlimited editorial veto. A review right lets the lab identify defined problems; a veto lets it decide whether the work may appear at all. The practical answer turns on the wording of the signed agreement, not on a general assumption that either side always controls publication.
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- Prepublication review: gives the lab an opportunity to flag inaccuracies, sensitive details or legal problems.
- Redaction: removes narrowly defined material while allowing the remainder of the report to be released.
- Editorial independence: preserves the evaluator’s control of methods, analysis, conclusions and wording, subject to those limited protections.
A court could interpret the same words differently depending on jurisdiction, statutory protections and the facts of a dispute. No public example establishes a universal right for every evaluator to publish, or a universal power for every lab to suppress a result.
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Start with the executed agreement
Program pages, policy statements and requests for proposals are useful context, but they do not replace the contract. OpenAI’s Economic Research Exchange request for proposals, issued June 8, 2026, says that researchers retain independence in study design and analysis. It also says public use or publication will be coordinated with OpenAI for accuracy, privacy, legal compliance and appropriate context. Crucially, the RFP describes itself as informational and preliminary, creates no binding obligation, and says obligations arise only after a definitive written agreement.
That combination is common in sponsored work: a public document can promise an important principle while reserving the details for negotiation. Before beginning, an evaluator should obtain the final agreement and every incorporated policy, security addendum, data-use term and statement of work. Check whether a later click-through or access agreement changes the publication clause.
Questions to answer in the signed text
- What counts as confidential information: model weights, prompts, logs, internal documents, outputs, derived data or the evaluator’s own results?
- Are facts that become public, are independently developed or are already known excluded from confidentiality?
- Does the lab approve publication, review it, or merely receive advance notice?
- Can review delay release, and for how long?
- Who decides whether a proposed redaction is necessary, and what happens if the evaluator disagrees?
- Does the evaluator retain ownership and editorial control of the report?
What a published external-testing agreement illustrates
OpenAI’s public external-testing agreement provides a concrete example of contractual boundaries. It states that covered information is not subject to confidentiality after two years, while trade secrets remain confidential for as long as they continue to qualify as trade secrets. The page does not state the date of the agreement published there, so the two-year period should be read as that agreement’s term rather than an industry standard.
The agreement also describes an exception for a researcher’s noncommercial research or academic publication. Information may fall outside the confidentiality obligation to the extent it was approved in writing by OpenAI before publication or resulted from a version of OpenAI technology made generally available to the public. The clause distinguishes public model versions from nonpublic versions and their outputs.
This example shows why details matter. A researcher might be able to discuss behavior observed from a public release while being barred from revealing a private checkpoint, internal prompt or restricted output. The exception is not a blanket permission for every conclusion, and it does not prove that every evaluator signed this form. Other clauses, another agreement or applicable law could narrow or change the result.
How to read a confidentiality exception
- Identify the information. Separate the evaluator’s measurement and interpretation from source material supplied under restriction.
- Check the trigger. Determine whether the exception requires written approval, a generally available technology version, or both.
- Check the audience and purpose. Noncommercial academic publication may be treated differently from a commercial report, a conference talk or a product announcement.
- Check timing. A two-year ordinary term does not make trade-secret material publishable after two years if it remains a trade secret.
Review is not the same as a veto
OpenAI’s third-party assessment principles recommend mutually agreed scopes, clearly defined claims, proportionate access, enforceable confidentiality protections and a reasonable remediation period when appropriate. They say reports should be shared as openly as possible while protecting sensitive and confidential information. They also say assessors should maintain editorial independence while maintaining confidentiality and intellectual-property protections.
“Assessors should maintain editorial independence, while ensuring that confidentiality and IP protections are maintained.”
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The principles describe a process in which a lab can request correction of inaccuracies and redaction of sensitive information. They also call for policies that let assessors explain substantive redactions and their effect. That is materially different from a clause allowing the lab to reject an unfavorable conclusion simply because it dislikes the result. Whether a particular agreement preserves that distinction is a question for the text and, if necessary, legal advice.
Indicators of a bounded review
- The review grounds are listed—such as factual accuracy, privacy, security, legal compliance and specifically identified confidential information.
- The agreement sets a short, definite review window and an exceptional extension only for an identified safety or security risk.
- The evaluator controls methodology, analysis, conclusions and wording.
- Redactions are narrow, documented and challengeable rather than open-ended.
- The evaluator may publish a notice describing that material was withheld and how the omission affects the findings.
Indicators of a de facto veto
- Publication requires discretionary approval with no deadline or stated decision criteria.
- The lab can demand changes to conclusions, methods or interpretation, not just factual corrections.
- Confidentiality covers all results and derived findings indefinitely without public-information or independent-development exceptions.
- The agreement permits repeated extensions whenever the lab says it needs more time.
Independence has operational dimensions
The AI Evaluator Forum’s AEF-1 framework treats independence as more than a sentence about publication. It identifies five operating dimensions:
| Dimension | What it requires in practice |
|---|---|
| Access and resources | Sufficient access to the relevant systems, model versions, records, time and technical resources. |
| Conflict management | Disclosure and mitigation of financial, employment and other relationships that could affect perceived or actual independence. |
| Analytic autonomy | Control over scoping, evaluation choices, direct access and editorial decisions. |
| Transparent methods and results | Methods, limitations and findings that readers can understand and scrutinize. |
| Sensitive-information protection | Processes that prevent harmful disclosure while preserving as much public explanation as possible. |
Under AEF-1, analytic autonomy expressly includes scoping, evaluation autonomy, direct access and editorial control. The Forum’s page says the European AI Office endorsed key provisions as a means of complying with independence provisions of the General-Purpose AI Code of Practice. That statement is the Forum’s attribution; it should not be treated as a court ruling or as proof that every contract meets the framework.
Operational independence also means resisting scope changes that quietly remove the difficult question. A statement of work should identify the claims being tested, the evidence the evaluator may inspect and a route to expand the work when a serious issue appears outside the original scope.
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Public policies are useful, but they are not private-contract guarantees
Several public commitments illustrate the difference between policy and contract. A 2024 compilation of frontier AI safety policies reproduces Anthropic’s commitment not to impose employee non-disparagement obligations in a way that could impede or discourage employees from publicly raising safety concerns. It also reproduces an OpenAI Preparedness Framework commitment to enable external research and government access for testing. Those commitments concern employees and governance policy; neither is an outside evaluator’s publication clause.
OpenAI’s sharing and publication policy welcomes research publications related to its API and asks researchers to report safety or security issues through its coordinated vulnerability disclosure program. It also says the company may take appropriate action to protect users in security- or misuse-related cases. This is a public policy statement, not a promise that every separate access agreement permits immediate publication.
For an evaluator, the practical rule is simple: use public principles to understand the lab’s stated approach, then negotiate the enforceable language that governs the engagement.
Build publication safety into the contract
A responsible agreement should separate ordinary publication review from urgent confidential reporting. The following checklist gives an evaluator and lab a concrete negotiation agenda.
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1. Define covered information and results
List confidential source material precisely. State how the contract treats evaluator-created measurements, derived findings, public model behavior, outputs from public and private versions, and independently developed knowledge. Broad definitions that silently capture every conclusion make meaningful publication impossible.
2. Set the term and survival rules
Specify when ordinary confidentiality ends and how trade secrets, personal data and security-sensitive details are handled afterward. If the term is two years, say so expressly; do not imply that a trade-secret exception expires on the same date.
3. Choose the publication default
Use unambiguous language: publication allowed by default with notice, publication after a time-limited review, or prior written approval. “Coordinate” should be defined so it cannot be reinterpreted as an indefinite approval right.
4. Limit review to stated grounds
Permit factual correction and narrowly defined requests concerning privacy, security, legal compliance and identified confidential material. Preserve the evaluator’s control over methods, analysis, conclusions and wording. State whether the lab’s comments are advisory or can delay release.
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5. Add a deadline and one safety extension
Set a concrete review window. If an urgent vulnerability or imminent safety risk requires more time, define the extension, the information the lab must provide and the maximum additional period. The public principles support a remediation process, but the available examples do not establish a universal number of days.
6. Make redactions auditable
Define the standard for a redaction, require a written explanation, provide a dispute route and allow the evaluator to publish a redaction notice. The notice should be able to state that material was withheld and describe the effect on the conclusions without revealing the protected content.
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7. Protect access and scope
Record which model versions, interfaces, logs, documentation and personnel are available. Include resource commitments and a process for expanding the scope when evidence of a serious issue emerges.
8. Create an urgent-disclosure channel
Publication and emergency reporting should not be the same step. Identify a security, safety or oversight contact, required encryption or submission method, acknowledgement expectations and the point at which the evaluator may notify an appropriate authority or the public if the risk is not addressed. OpenAI’s public policy directs API safety and security issues to its coordinated vulnerability disclosure program.
9. Disclose payment and conflicts
State who pays, whether compensation depends on a favorable result, whether the lab can terminate access after an unfavorable finding and what other commercial relationships exist. AEF-1 treats conflicts and contingent compensation as independence concerns.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.How to compare engagement models
Different documents should not be treated as interchangeable contracts. A testing agreement, third-party assessment principles and an economic-research RFP serve different purposes. Compare them on the same decision axes, while preserving those differences in scope.
| Comparison axis | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Publication default | Shows whether release is allowed with notice, follows a review period or requires prior approval. |
| Lab’s authority | Distinguishes a factual-correction and redaction right from a discretionary veto. |
| Review timing | Prevents an open-ended delay and identifies any safety-related extension. |
| Confidentiality scope and duration | Reveals whether public behavior, derived findings and trade secrets are treated differently. |
| Evaluator control | Tests whether the evaluator retains methods, analysis, conclusions and wording. |
| Access | Determines whether the evaluator can actually test the claims and reproduce the work. |
| Redaction transparency | Shows whether withheld material and its impact can be disclosed. |
| Urgent escalation | Provides a safe route for vulnerabilities or imminent risks without waiting for publication. |
| Conflict disclosure | Lets readers assess payment incentives and other relationships. |
What to do when the lab challenges a draft
- Map each request to the contract. Label it as factual correction, privacy, security, legal compliance, confidential-information protection or a request outside the agreed grounds.
- Separate evidence from interpretation. Offer to correct an inaccurate number, quotation or description while retaining an independently supported conclusion.
- Ask for a narrow redaction. Replace a secret, personal identifier or exploit detail rather than deleting an entire section.
- Request written reasons and the deadline. Preserve the lab’s specific objection, the clause it invokes and the date on which the review period ends.
- Use the escalation channel for urgent risk. Send vulnerability or imminent-harm details confidentially to the designated contact instead of putting operational exploit information in the public report.
- Record unresolved restrictions. If the agreement permits it, explain that material was withheld and how the limitation affects confidence or scope.
- Obtain jurisdiction-specific advice. A lawyer can assess enforceability, statutory protections, defamation and confidentiality exposure for the actual parties and location.
Common mistakes to avoid
- Assuming a public promise is the contract. The 2026 Economic Research Exchange RFP expressly says binding obligations arise only from a definitive written agreement.
- Calling every review a veto. A correction and redaction process can preserve editorial independence when the grounds and timing are narrow.
- Calling every review harmless. An undefined approval right or indefinite extension can function as a veto even if the document uses the word “review.”
- Treating two years as a universal rule. The two-year term is an example from a published external-testing agreement, with a continuing trade-secret exception.
- Publishing sensitive exploit details to prove independence. Confidential reporting can protect users while the public report explains the finding at a safe level.
- Ignoring access and incentives. An evaluator cannot be independent in practice if the lab can withdraw essential access or payment whenever the result is unfavorable.
Bottom-line legal framing
An AI lab may contractually restrict disclosure of confidential information and may require a defined publication review. It does not follow that the lab has an unlimited right to suppress every safety finding. The decisive questions are what the signed agreement covers, how long the obligations last, whether publication exceptions apply, what review grounds and deadlines exist, and what law governs the dispute.
For evaluators, the strongest protection is negotiated language that preserves analytic autonomy, gives the lab a narrow and time-limited safety review, permits transparent redaction notices and creates an immediate confidential route for serious risks. For labs, clear boundaries protect legitimate secrets without undermining the credibility that independent evaluation is meant to provide.
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