Suchir Balaji, a 26-year-old former researcher at OpenAI, has sadly died by suicide in his San Francisco apartment. The local medical examiner confirmed this news. Suchir previously voiced his worries about OpenAI’s use of copyrighted materials, sharing his thoughts in an interview with The New York Times last month.
Balaji was a bright student who studied computer science at the University of California, Berkeley. He worked at OpenAI for four years, contributing to projects like WebGPT and the team behind ChatGPT. After leaving OpenAI, he expressed concerns about how AI technology could negatively impact society, especially related to copyright laws.
Just before his passing, Balaji was mentioned in a copyright lawsuit involving OpenAI. A spokesperson for the San Francisco Police Department found him after a wellness check was requested, and there were no signs of foul play at the scene.
In an X post, Balaji shared that he became interested in copyright issues after noticing many lawsuits against companies that create generative AI products. He believed that these products could confuse or compete with the original data they were trained on.
After the news of his death, an OpenAI spokesperson said they were heartbroken and sent condolences to Balaji’s family.
If you or someone you know is feeling suicidal, please reach out for help. You can call the National Suicide Hotline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255).
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