Death of a Whistleblower

A former OpenAI employee who became a critic of the company and artificial intelligence turned up dead.

Composite image. Credit: GDJ.

Suchir Balaji believed that the Promethean fire of artificial intelligence could help humanity forge solutions to its greatest challenges. He landed a job right out of college with OpenAI, the company behind the ChatGPT chatbot. “I thought that A.I. was a thing that could be used to solve unsolvable problems, like curing diseases and stopping aging,” he told The New York Times in a recent interview. “I thought we could invent some kind of scientist that could help solve them.”

But nearly four years of toiling as a researcher with the San Francisco startup left Balaji convinced that the work he was doing would result in more harm than good for society. He split with OpenAI in August, believing that the company had violated U.S. copyright laws in developing its offerings. His departure coincided with a surge of lawsuits against OpenAI from programmers, authors, artists, and journalists who say that their work has been illegally stolen to train its products. In a Nov. 18 custodian request, The Times named Balaji as someone who would “have unique and relevant documents supporting” its case against OpenAI, one that could have major implications for the future of AI.

Eight days after The Times filed that letter in federal court, the 26-year-old former OpenAI researcher was found dead in his apartment.

The authorities are calling it a suicide.

“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 told CNBC in an email.

Balaji’s death naturally has raised a lot of eyebrows. Because he challenged the gods of the universe. Because he seemed eager about his new role as a vigorous critic of a company and space he once inhabited. Because his death came as OpenAI is facing lawsuits in which Balaji was becoming a key player and at a time when the company is embracing the military-industrial complex.

Are any of these things connected, and if so, how?