Suchir Balaji, 26-year-old former AI researcher at OpenAI, was found dead in his San Francisco apartment on November 26, 2024, a day after Thanksgiving. The San Francisco Police Department confirmed that the cause of death was suicide, with no foul play suspected. Balaji’s tragic death has left the tech community in shock, especially given his high-profile exit from OpenAI earlier in August this year. Balaji left OpenAI in August 2024 after disagreement over the company’s AI practices. Balaji was with OpenAI for four years. During this time, he is said to have worked on OpenAI’s popular chatbot ChatGPT for over a year. Balaji was also the prime witness in a lawsuit filed by almost a dozen US publications against OpenAI.
Elon Musk, who is fighting a legal battle against Open AI has reacted to Balaji’s death in posts on X, formerly Twitter. In the first post, Musk wrote a cryptic “hmm’. He quoted a post of Twitter user named Daniel who had shared a news titled ‘OpenAI whistleblower found dead in San Francisco apartment’ saying “uhhhhhh. guys”.
Musk shared another post related to ChatGPT. This one is of Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella talking about the company’s investment in ChatGPT maker OpenAI. In the 16-second video, Satya Nadella is talking about telling OpenAI CEO Sam Alman about his bet on the company and Microsoft’s rights to the IP and how he feels “fantastic” about it.
Balaji was a key witness in case against OpenAI
Balaji was among the key witnesses against OpenAI in the ongoing case against the Microsoft-owned AI giant in the US. In a November 18 letter filed in federal court, attorneys for The New York Times reportedly named Balaji as someone who had “unique and relevant documents” that would support their case against OpenAI. He was among at least 12 people that the newspaper had named in court filings as having material helpful to their case, ahead of depositions.
Elon Musk’s long running fight with OpenAI
An early OpenAI investor and board member, Elon Musk sued the artificial intelligence company earlier this year alleging that it had betrayed its founding aims as a nonprofit research lab benefiting the public good rather than pursuing profits. Musk has since escalated the dispute, adding new claims and asking for a court order that would stop OpenAI’s plans to convert itself into a for-profit business more fully. Last month, he also made Microsoft, the biggest investor in OpenAI, a part of the lawsuit. “OpenAI and Microsoft together exploiting Musk’s donations so they can build a for-profit monopoly, one now specifically targeting xAI, is just too much,” says Musk’s court filing.