After speaking out about OpenAI to The New York Times, Suchir Balaji was found dead. NewsNation’s Brian Entin sits down with his family for the exclusive on “Elizabeth Vargas Reports,” Monday 7p/6C on NewsNation. Find NewsNation on your screen: NewsNationNow.com
(NewsNation) — A tech prodigy who spoke out about the dangers of artificial intelligence was found dead last year, and now his family is hoping the Trump administration will help them get answers.
Suchir Balaji began working at OpenAI in San Francisco after college. Four years later, in an interview with the New York Times, he alleged OpenAI had illegally used copyright articles to train its bots and brought “society more harm than benefit.”
Poornima Rao, Balaji’s mother, said she feared her son was in danger after the interview.
“I sensed the danger,” Rao said. “Moment I saw that, I knew something was there. Mother instinct.”
“As a mother, I could sense it,” she continued. “But later it just vanished. I talked to Suchir each time he came home, and every time he said don’t worry. But in his journal, he’s written, ‘I’m a credible threat because of New York Times.'”
One month later, Balaji was found dead in his apartment. Police said Balaji took his own life, but his family believes the circumstances don’t add up.
