OpenAI whistleblower found dead
A former OpenAI employee who claimed the company had violated copyright laws during work on its ChatGPT chatbot has been found dead, CNBC and other outlets have reported.
Suchir Balaji died several weeks ago, and “the manner of death has been determined to be suicide,” David Serrano Sewell, executive director of San Francisco’s Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, told the broadcaster on Friday.
According to San Francisco police, officers discovered the whistleblower’s body during a “wellbeing check” at an apartment on Buchanan Street on November 26. “No evidence of foul play” was found during the initial investigation, they said.
Balaji’s untimely demise comes three months after he publicly accused OpenAI of violating US copyright law during the development of the ChatGPT large language model.
The information that the 26-year-old possessed was believed to have been crucial to multiple lawsuits filed against the San-Francisco-based firm by publishers, authors and artists, which claim that OpenAI used their data without authorization.
When approached for comment by CNBC, a spokesperson for OpenAI said “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.”
