More than 50 days after the body of 26-year-old Suchir Balaji, former researcher with OpenAI, was found from his San Francisco based apartment, the OpenAI foundation finally released an official statement on his demise but declined to comment on Balaji turning into a whistleblower against the Artificial Intelligence giant.
In a statement released on ‘X’ (formerly Twitter), the OpenAI Newsroom handle expressed condolences on Balaji’s demise, referring him as a “valued member” of their team. The organization also insisted that they have reached out to San Francisco Police department offering their assistance.
OpenAI has also refused to make any further comments on the mysterious circumstances under which Balaji’s body was found on November 26 last year by police. After his body was found from the apartment, police had termed the case as suicide but the family of Balaji had insisted foul play, claiming he was allegedly murdered due to whistleblowing activities against OpenAI.
Balaji, an Indian American from California, had joined OpenAI in 2018 as an intern after graduating from UC Berkley. In 2021, he joined as a full time researcher and was deeply involved in making of ChatGPT- OpenAI’s most popular tool. In mid-2024, Balaji had abruptly quit OpenAI and turned into a whistleblower claiming that the organization was infringing upon the copyright laws of artists and content creators. OpenAI was accused of “lifting” people and organizations’ works under their “fair use” policy to train their AI models under ChatGPT and other projects.
Balaji had also given an interview to The New York Times wherein he claimed that his obsession with AI was finally broken when he realized that the technology was not being used for welfare of humankind but profiteering from the original work of artists and creators. The NYT lawsuit against OpenAI over copyright infringement had named Balaji as a person from OpenAI with access to certain sensitive documents of the organization.
Also Read: Portrait of a Whistleblower: Suchir Warned Us About Perils of AI
