Suchir Balaji, who is known for speaking out against OpenAI’s artificial intelligence practices, was found dead in his apartment. The medical examiner’s office calls it a suicide.
On November 26, police found the lifeless body of Suchir Balaji, a former OpenAI researcher. He was pronounced dead on site, in his apartment located in San Francisco. He committed suicide, the county medical examiner’s office announced, although the investigation revealed no trace of foul play, the BBC announced.
Suchir Balaji had worked for four years at OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT and Sora, but left the company in August 2024 by publicly denouncing the actions of his former employer, particularly in matters of ethics. He notably revealed the failings of OpenAI regarding its data collection practices.
In an October 2024 interview with the New York Times, Suchir Balaji explained that OpenAI intentionally violated US copyright law during the development of ChatGPT, even claiming that generative AI was “damaging the internet”.
OpenAI initially explained that its language model was trained on “publicly accessible data”, before taking a step aside and admitting, through the voice of its boss, Sam Altman, that content submitted copyright could have been used.
In the wake of these revelations, several international media, including the New York Times, announced that they were filing a complaint against OpenAI for unauthorized use of their articles.
Despite this tumultuous past, OpenAI wanted to pay tribute to its former researcher, declaring itself “devastated” by the news: “Our thoughts are with Suchir’s loved ones during this difficult time.”
