SoylentNews

fliptop [soylentnews.org] writes:

Suchir Balaji, a former OpenAi employee, helped gather and organize the enormous amounts of internet data used to train the startup's ChatGPT chatbot [mercurynews.com]:

A former OpenAI researcher known for whistleblowing the blockbuster artificial intelligence company facing a swell of lawsuits over its business model [mercurynews.com] has died, authorities confirmed this week.

Suchir Balaji, 26, was found dead inside his Buchanan Street apartment on Nov. 26, San Francisco police and the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner said. Police had been called to the Lower Haight residence at about 1 p.m. that day, after receiving a call asking officers to check on his well-being, a police spokesperson said.

The medical examiner’s office determined the manner of death to be suicide and police officials this week said there is “currently, no evidence of foul play.”

[...] In a Nov. 18 letter filed in federal court, attorneys for The New York Times named Balaji as someone who had “unique and relevant documents” that would support their case against OpenAI. He was among at least 12 people — many of them past or present OpenAI employees — the newspaper had named in court filings as having material helpful to their case, ahead of depositions.

Previously:

• AI Companies Are Finally Being Forced To Cough Up For Training Data [soylentnews.org]
• OpenAI Says New York Times 'Hacked' ChatGPT to Build Copyright Lawsuit [soylentnews.org]
• Why the New York Times Might Win its Copyright Lawsuit Against OpenAI [soylentnews.org]
• New York Times Sues Microsoft, ChatGPT Maker OpenAI Over Copyright Infringement [soylentnews.org]

Original Submission