Former OpenAI Engineer Suchir Balaji, Who Raised Copyright Law Concerns, Dies by Suicide at 26

Dec 21, 2024, 09:00 PM

Suchir Balaji, a former OpenAI engineer and whistleblower who had raised legal concerns about the company's practices, has died at the age of 26. Balaji, who helped train the AI systems behind ChatGPT, believed that OpenAI's methods violated copyright law. He was found dead in his San Francisco apartment on November 26, and the death has been ruled a suicide by the city's medical examiner. Balaji had been preparing to testify in significant copyright infringement cases against OpenAI, including a lawsuit by The New York Times. His departure from OpenAI in August was influenced by his disillusionment with the company's direction, particularly after internal turmoil involving CEO Sam Altman. Balaji also raised concerns about AI ethics and was involved in the development of WebGPT and the training of GPT-4.