A former OpenAI researcher was found dead in his California apartment last month, authorities said. Suchir Balaji, 26, had become a whistleblower against OpenAI in recent months, speaking publicly about the company’s practices and questioning whether they were legal or not.
Balaji committed suicide, the San Francisco medical examiner’s office told CBS News in a statement. There was no evidence of foul play.
His body was discovered on November 26 inside his apartment in San Francisco, where CBS News partner OpenAI is headquartered. BBC News reportedquoting the police. Officers said they conducted a welfare check at Balaji’s home after receiving a call asking them to do so.
Balaji’s family told The Associated Press that they are planning a memorial for him, expected to take place later in December at the India Community Center in Milpitas, California, near his hometown. His parents, Poornima Ramarao and Balaji Ramamurthy, told the AP they were seeking answers about their son’s death and described him as a “happy, intelligent and courageous young man.”
Balaji Ramamurthy / AP
“We are devastated to learn of this incredibly sad news and our thoughts are with Suchir’s loved ones during this difficult time,” an OpenAI spokesperson said in a statement to The Associated Press.
Originally from Cupertino, California, Balaji worked for four years as a researcher at OpenAI before leaving the company in August. He said in an interview in October with the New York Times that OpenAI, an artificial intelligence organization co-founded by Tesla mogul Elon Musk, had violated US copyright law by developing ChatGPT, which Balaji himself helped build during his tenure at the company . Balaji later told the Associated Press that he would “try to testify” in the most serious copyright infringement cases against his former employer.
OpenAI now faces a group of pursuits brought by various news publishers in the United States and Canada as well as some people – including the New York Times and authors John Grisham and Jodie Picoult – accusing OpenAI of illegally using their intellectual property to train the online chatbot. Although Musk was originally a co-founder of OpenAI, he engaged in a months-long attack on the company, most recently claiming in a lawsuit that its conversion into a for-profit company was “illegal “.
John Schulman, who also co-founded OpenAI and announced his own departure from the company in August, paid tribute to Balaji following his death. in a statement that Balaji’s father posted on social media.
In it, Schulman said he was “heartbroken to learn of Suchir’s passing” and called Balaji “one of my favorite and most talented collaborators.”
CBS News reached out to OpenAI but did not receive an immediate response.
If you or someone you know is in emotional distress or suicidal crisis, you can contact 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifebuoy by calling or texting 988. You can also chat with the 988 Suicide & Crisis lifeline here.
For more information about mental health care resources and supportThe National Alliance on Mental Illness Helpline can be reached Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. – 10 p.m. ET at 1-800-950-NAMI (6264) or by email at info@nami.org .
