Former OpenAI engineer and whistleblower Suchir Balaji dies at 26

Suchir Balaji, a former OpenAI engineer and whistleblower, has died at 26. He was found in his San Francisco apartment on November 26, with police ruling the death a suicide. Balaji had raised concerns about copyright violations in AI training practices. Balaji worked at OpenAI for nearly four years, contributing to projects like WebGPT and GPT-4. He left the company in August, expressing disillusionment with its practices and the handling of copyright issues. His concerns gained attention amid ongoing lawsuits against AI companies. His family described him as a happy and intelligent individual. A memorial service is planned for later this month in California. Balaji's insights into copyright issues may still play a role in ongoing legal cases against OpenAI.