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We are just days away from National Whistleblower Day 2025, a day that will feature an impactful assembly of speakers from Senators to groundbreaking whistleblowers. Notable addresses and updates will be delivered by The Signals Network’s Margaux Ewen, OpenAI Whistleblower Daniel Kokotajlo, Senator Charles Grassley (R-IA), among many others.
The National Whistleblower Center’s (NWC) agenda and speaker roster for the July 30th celebration on Capitol Hill is set. This year, artificial intelligence (AI) will be a key topic on the agenda, particularly the importance of protecting AI whistleblowers to promote transparency and accountability in the rapidly growing AI sector.
In this Sunday Read, we will highlight three National Whistleblower Day speakers and discuss how the growth of AI will impact keynotes and discussions at the tables, as well as the potential impact of the proposed federal legislation in addressing this issue.
Margaux Ewen
Whistleblower Protection Program Director, The Signals Network
Margaux Ewen is the Whistleblower Protection Program Director at The Signals Network (TSN), a U.S.-based nonprofit dedicated to supporting whistleblowers and holding power to account. TSN provides comprehensive support for those who expose wrongdoing, from empowering workers to speak out to protecting whistleblowers behind published reports, supporting investigative journalists, and advocating for systemic change.
Before joining TSN, Ewen directed Freedom House’s Fred Hiatt Program to Free Political Prisoners, a major initiative supporting detained journalists, human rights defenders, and pro-democracy activists worldwide.
Ewen noted how TSN has recently collaborated with AI whistleblowers and the sector as a whole to help navigate the technology’s legal and ethical complexities.
“Since its creation, The Signals Network has focused on supporting tech and AI whistleblowers,” Ewen told NWC, “working closely with tech reporters, producing resources for tech workers like the Tech Worker Handbook. TSN is proud to have supported publicly known Facebook, Uber, and Twitter whistleblowers, along with dozens of other anonymous whistleblowers from the tech and AI sectors, among other sectors.”
Daniel Kokotajlo
OpenAI Whistleblower; Executive Director, AI Futures Project
Another first-time presence at National Whistleblower Day will be Daniel Kokotajlo, Executive Director of the AI Futures Project, a nonprofit research group that forecasts the future of AI. Prior to his current role, he worked as a governance researcher at OpenAI on scenario planning. In 2024, Kokotajlo resigned from OpenAI and refused to sign the company’s non-disparagement clause, which forbade employees from criticizing the company.
Upon leaving OpenAI, Kokotajlo called for greater transparency of top AI companies. Along with other OpenAI and Google DeepMind employees, he signed and publicly released a letter calling for the “right to warn” about the dangers of AI without fear of reprisal. For his bravery, Kokotajlo was listed on the Time100 Most Influential People in AI 2024.
Sen. Charles Grassley
(R-IA); Chair of the Senate Whistleblower Caucus
Senator Grassley is one of the most well-known faces in Congress and among the whistleblower advocacy community. First elected to represent Iowa’s 3rd congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives in 1974, he served until January 1981. He has since served as a Senator from Iowa.
Sen. Grassley is a staunch advocate for whistleblower protections. He has been instrumental in strengthening whistleblower laws throughout his career. One of his most impactful pieces of legislation was the 1986 qui tam amendments to the False Claims Act, commonly referred to as “Lincoln’s Law.” These amendments incentivize whistleblowers to report fraud against the government by offering them a portion of the recovered funds. This act has been integral in recovering billions of taxpayer dollars through whistleblower-initiated cases.
As recently discussed, Sen. Grassley introduced the AI Whistleblower Protection Act in May 2025 to provide explicit whistleblower protections to those developing and deploying AI. Passage of the act is one of the NWC’s seven major campaigns for 2025. If enacted, it could mark a significant milestone for transparency in the sector.
“Transparency brings accountability,” said Grassley, who, in 2025, along with Senate Banking Committee Ranking Member Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), also reintroduced the bipartisan SEC Whistleblower Reform Act. “Today, too many people working in AI feel they’re unable to speak up when they see something wrong. Whistleblowers are one of the best ways to ensure Congress keeps pace as the AI industry rapidly develops. We need to act to make these protections crystal clear.”
Last Call: National Whistleblower Day
Establishing a permanent National Whistleblower Day is one of the NWC’s seven campaigns. An official act would mandate that all federal agencies honor the day, provide whistleblower training to their employees, and celebrate the contributions that whistleblowers have made to democracy and society.
This is also the last chance to join the waitlist for this year’s event, which will be held exclusively in person. You can also contribute to a separate fundraiser for the Day, with unique gifts for donors.
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Additional Resources
The decision to come forward is not one to be taken lightly, nor should selecting a whistleblower lawyer. NWC provides resources that can connect you with the right legal professional prior to taking any action.
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This story was written by Justin Smulison, a professional writer, podcaster, and event host based in New York.
