What did Suchir Balaji expose about OpenAI? Whistleblower wrote about ‘copyright, fair use’ in final X post before death
Indian American Suchir Balaji raised concerns about OpenAI breaking copyright law in an interview before his shocking suicide.
The tragic suicide of former OpenAI researcher Suchir Balaji has renewed conversations about companies breaking copyright law. This is the main concern the 26-year-old Indian American man had raised before he was found dead in his San Francisco apartment.
Balaji worked at OpenAI for four years, before quitting after he realised the technology would bring more harm than good to society. His major concern was how OpenAI allegedly used copyright data, which is something he spoke about in an interview with The New York Times in October.
Notably, just a day before he died, a court filing reportedly named Balaji, 26, in a copyright lawsuit brought against the startup. As part of a good faith compromise, OpenAI reportedly said it would search Balaji’s custodial file related to the copyright concerns that had been expressed by him.
In his interview with The New York Time, Balaji addressed how his growing concerns led to his resignation from OpenAI, saying, "If you believe what I believe, you have to just leave.”
Even after resigning, Balaji continued to remain vocal about the issue and stressed how important it was for AI researchers to understand the legal landscape surrounding copyright. He urged the AI community to try and better understand the nuances of copyright laws as it was significant for the future of AI development.
What concerns did Suchir Balaji raise?
OpenAI and Microsoft are facing various lawsuits from newspapers and media publishers – including The New York Times – who have accused the generative AI startup of breaking copyright law. Balaji took issue with the data that OpenAI trained its models on. He spoke about his concerns in his final X post in October, and also in a blog post in the same month.
“I initially didn't know much about copyright, fair use, etc. but became curious after seeing all the lawsuits filed against GenAI companies. When I tried to understand the issue better, I eventually came to the conclusion that fair use seems like a pretty implausible defense for a lot of generative AI products, for the basic reason that they can create substitutes that compete with the data they're trained on. I've written up the more detailed reasons for why I believe this in my post. Obviously, I'm not a lawyer, but I still feel like it's important for even non-lawyers to understand the law -- both the letter of it, and also why it's actually there in the first place,” Balaji’s last X post, which resurfaced after his death, read.
Balaji clarified that the New York Times did not reach out to him, but it was he who had reached out to them as he thought he had “an interesting perspective.” “None of this is related to their lawsuit with OpenAI - I just think they're a good newspaper,” he added.
An OpenAI spokesperson expressed their sorrow after Balaji’s death in a statement shared with TechCrunch. The spokesperson said, “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.”
Discussing suicides can be triggering for some. However, suicides are preventable. If you or someone you know is considering suicide, please contact the National Suicide Hotline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255).
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