Indian American whistleblower who accused OpenAI of copyright violation found dead

Suchir Balaji, a 26-year-old Indian-American and former researcher at OpenAI, was found dead in his apartment on Buchanan Street on November 26. While the cause of death remains unconfirmed, San Francisco police stated there is “currently no evidence of foul play.”

Balaji worked at OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, for four years before parting ways.

His death has drawn attention due to his recent allegations against the tech giant, claiming it breached US copyright laws during the development of ChatGPT.

Hmm https://t.co/HsElym3uLV

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 14, 2024

In a widely-read interview with The New York Times, Balaji publicly accused OpenAI of unlawfully using copyrighted content from journalists, writers, and coders to train its generative AI models. Reflecting on his decision to leave the company, he remarked, “If you believe what I believe, you have to just leave the company.”

Balaji also clarified through a tweet that he initiated contact with The New York Times to share his insights, stating, “I thought I had an interesting perspective as someone who’s been working on these systems since before the current generative AI bubble.”

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. I also wrote a blog post (https://t.co/xhiVyCk2Vk) about the nitty-gritty details of fair use and why I…

— Suchir Balaji (@suchirbalaji) October 23, 2024

His revelations quickly gained traction, with his insider perspective becoming pivotal to ongoing legal proceedings against OpenAI. For critics of the company, Balaji’s insights were viewed as a significant addition to claims that the tech giant violated intellectual property laws.