According to CoinMeta, OpenAI has a special email address, friction, in place to handle the “frictions” that slow down work. Employees can report technical issues, process problems, and office equipment issues, etc. Management will screen these emails, and in cases of significant issues, CEO Sam Altman or the president, Greg Brockman, will directly get involved. This email address has existed for some time, but it was formalized after Fidji Simo joined the company, and a dedicated person was assigned to monitor it. The progress of handling these issues is published monthly in Slack. Opinions on this mechanism vary; a former employee believes it allows for direct reporting to Sam bypassing traditional hierarchies, while another former manager stated that after supporting a certain friction, the responsible team has to prioritize its handling, which may lead to more temporary fixes. OpenAI rarely uses this email on a regular basis, and former engineers Calvin French to Owen claimed to receive only about 10 emails per year. OpenAI plans to expand the employee base from 4,500 to 8,000 by the end of the year, with the aim of maintaining a fast problem-solving capability.