Suchir Balaji, a 26-year-old former researcher at OpenAI, was found dead in his San Francisco apartment on November 26. The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner has ruled his death a suicide, according to a statement shared with TechCrunch. Police found no evidence of foul play during their initial investigation.
Balaji had been a vocal whistleblower against OpenAI’s alleged misuse of copyright-protected data to train its generative AI models. His concerns were highlighted in an interview with The New York Times in October, where he expressed doubts about the ethical practices of AI companies like OpenAI.
“I came to the conclusion that fair use seems like a pretty implausible defense for a lot of generative AI products,” Balaji tweeted in October.
Balaji, who studied computer science at UC Berkeley, worked at OpenAI for nearly four years. He contributed to notable projects like WebGPT and played a significant role in the development of GPT-4 and ChatGPT. He left OpenAI after concluding that its technology might harm society.
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OpenAI, which is facing multiple copyright lawsuits, expressed its condolences: “We are devastated to learn of this incredibly sad news… Our hearts go out to Suchir’s loved ones.”
Balaji’s passing has sparked discussions about ethical AI practices and the challenges faced by whistleblowers in the tech industry.
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