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Suchir Balaji's mom talks about his life, death, and disillusionment with OpenAI: 'He felt AI is a harm to humanity'
- Former OpenAI employee, Suchir Balaji, believed AI to be a harm to humanity. He alleged that OpenAI breach copyright laws by training their models on content from the internet. Balaji's disillusionment with the company led to him resigning in August 2023. In November, he passed away in his apartment. Balaji's mom, Poornima Ramarao, explained that her son believed in AI's potential to do good but developed concerns as the company and its initiatives became more commercially driven.
- During his time with OpenAI, Balaji made significant contributions to ChatGPT's training methods and infrastructure. He became an early standout in OpenAI, leading to his full-time employment in 2021. Balaji's hopes for AI as a force for good were dashed with the launch of ChatGPT, which made him reconsider copyright implications.
- Balaji's parents, supported by the community, are calling for the investigation of his death to be reopened and to raise awareness of his case on the impact of whistleblowers' lack of protections.
- OpenAI holds that its models' ingestion of content from publicly-available sources on the internet is protected by the doctrine of 'fair use'.
- OpenAI's spokesperson has expressed condolences for Balaji's death and conveyed that he was a valued member of the team.
- Balaji's parents believe their son was seeking to use his knowledge to help society and are not pointing fingers at OpenAI.
- Recruited by Quora as a 17-year-old, Balaji, a prodigy in his mother's eyes, built his own computer at age 13 and wrote a science paper at 14.
- Balaji's parents are working with an attorney to press for a 'proper investigation' into their son's death. He was found deceased in his apartment on November 26, 2023.
- Balaji's mom shared that OpenAI's open-source models initially drew her son to the company and its capacity for AI to be used for noble causes.
- Balaji's disillusionment is thought to have begun as the company moved away from its non-profit and open-source mission in favour of more commercially driven ventures.
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