OpenAI whistleblower Suchir Balaji found dead by suicide in San Francisco apartment

A former OpenAI researcher turned whistleblower was found dead last month in his San Francisco apartment as a suicide, according to authorities.

Suchir Balaji, 26, was found dead on Nov. 26 by San Francisco police officers who went to the apartment after being called to conduct a wellness check, The Mercury News writes.

The coroner has ruled that there were no signs of foul play and that his death is believed to be self-inflicted, the newspaper reports.

Before his death, Balaji publicly accused OpenAI of violating US copyright law with its generative AI app, ChatGPT.

The California native joined the artificial intelligence firm as a researcher in 2022, but was quickly disturbed by how the image and text generation programs worked.

Back in October, Balaji was the subject of a New York Times profile that detailed what he believes are fair use violations committed regularly by ChatGPT.

On November 18, The Times filed a letter with a federal court naming Balaji as someone with “unique and relevant documents” that they would use in their current legal proceedings against OpenAI, The Mirror reports.

This lawsuit alleges that Microsoft and OpenAI are simply blaming the work of their reporters and editors in flagrant disregard for journalistic ethics and legality.

“We are devastated to hear of this incredibly sad news today, and our hearts go out to Suchir’s loved ones at this difficult time,” OpenAI said in a statement to CNBC.

If you are struggling with suicidal thoughts or experiencing a mental health crisis and live in New York City, call 1-888-NYC-WELL for free and confidential crisis counseling. If you live outside the five boroughs, you can call the 24/7 National Suicide Prevention hotline at 988 or go to SuicidePreventionLifeline.org.