OpenAI Whistleblower Discovered Deceased in Suspected Suicide
Suchir Balaji, a former OpenAI researcher and whistleblower, has died at the age of 26 in what has been determined to be a suicide, according to multiple reports.
Balaji’s body was discovered in his San Francisco apartment on November 26, as first reported by CNBC.
“The manner of death has been determined to be suicide,” stated David Serrano Sewell, director of San Francisco’s Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, in a December 13 email. Sewell confirmed that Balaji’s next of kin have been notified.
The San Francisco Police Department also confirmed the incident in an email to The San Francisco Standard, stating that officers were called to an apartment on Buchanan Street on November 26 for a wellness check. Upon arrival, they discovered an adult male deceased at the scene. Police noted that there is currently “no evidence of foul play.”
“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,” a spokesperson for OpenAI — the organization behind ChatGPT — told Fox News.
Balaji had worked as an artificial intelligence researcher at OpenAI for four years before departing in August. His decision to leave stemmed from ethical concerns, including his belief that the company had violated copyright laws in developing its AI systems and that platforms like ChatGPT were causing societal harm.
“If you believe what I believe, you have to just leave the company,” Balaji said in interviews with The New York Times.
On October 23, Balaji referred to these concerns in his final post on X (formerly Twitter), writing, “I recently participated in a NYT story about fair use and generative AI, and why I’m skeptical ‘fair use’ would be a plausible defense for a lot of generative AI products.”
In the same post, he clarified, “That being said, I don’t want this to read as a critique of ChatGPT or OpenAI per se, because fair use and generative AI is a much broader issue than any one product or company.”
If you or someone you know is struggling with thoughts of suicide, help is available. Contact the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline by dialing 988, text “STRENGTH” to the Crisis Text Line at 741741, or visit 988lifeline.org.
