Suchir Balaji, a 26-year-old former researcher at OpenAI, was found dead in his San Francisco apartment last month, according to local authorities. The cause of death was ruled as suicide by the medical examiner’s office, which found no evidence of foul play. Balaji’s body was discovered on November 26 by San Francisco police officers who were conducting a wellness check.
Before his untimely death, Balaji had publicly accused OpenAI, a leading artificial intelligence company, of violating US copyright law through its generative AI app, ChatGPT. Balaji, a California native, joined OpenAI as a researcher in 2022. However, he soon became troubled by the operations of the company’s image and text generation programs.
In October, Balaji was profiled by the New York Times, where he expressed his concerns about what he perceived as regular fair use violations by ChatGPT. Later in November, the Times identified Balaji in a federal court letter as a person possessing “unique and relevant documents” that would be used in their ongoing litigation against OpenAI.
The lawsuit in question alleges that Microsoft and OpenAI are blatantly copying the work of journalists and editors, showing a complete disregard for journalistic ethics and legality. Balaji’s accusations against OpenAI were centered around the same issue, claiming that the company’s generative AI app, ChatGPT, was in violation of US copyright law.
OpenAI expressed their sorrow over Balaji’s death in a statement to CNBC, saying, “We are devastated to learn of this incredibly sad news today and our hearts go out to Suchir’s loved ones during this difficult time.”