The News

  former OpenAI employee and whistleblower, Suchir Balaji, was recently found dead in his apartment in San Francisco, California.

The San Francisco Office of the Chief Medical Examiner has identified Balaji, 26, as the deceased person, according to the San Jose Mercury News. The manner of death has been ruled suicide.

Balaji was found dead in his Buchanan Street apartment on November 26, a spokesperson for the San Francisco Police Department told the outlet. First responders were called to his home to perform a wellness check, and no evidence of foul play was found during the initial probe.

"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 Fox News Digital.

This comes after Balaji, an AI researcher, raised concerns about OpenAI breaking copyright law in an interview with The New York Times in October.

A man is seen using the OpenAI ChatGPT artificial intelligence chat website in this illustration photo on July 18, 2023.  (Jaap Arriens/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

Balaji resigned from OpenAI after working there for nearly four years when he learned the technology would bring more harm than good to society, he told the newspaper, noting that his main concern was the way the company allegedly used copyright data, stating that he believed its practices were damaging to the internet.

"I was at OpenAI for nearly 4 years and worked on ChatGPT for the last 1.5 of them," Balaji wrote in October on the social media platform X. "I initially didn't know much about copyright, fair use, etc. but became curious after seeing all the lawsuits filed against GenAI companies."

The OpenAI logo is arranged on a laptop in Beijing, China, on Friday, Feb. 24, 2023. (Bloomberg via Getty Images)

"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," his post continued.

OpenAI and Microsoft are currently facing several lawsuits from media outlets who accuse OpenAI of breaking copyright law.

 China’s recent economic measures failed to spark investor confidence, causing the yuan to weaken against the US dollar, which climbed to a two-and-a-half-week high.

What does this mean?

China's efforts to boost its economy with increased spending and debt issuance seem to have backfired, as the yuan has lost value instead of gaining it. Policymakers are expanding budget deficits and loosening monetary policies, yet these actions haven’t reassured investors about China’s growth outlook. At the same time, the People's Bank of China is propping up the yuan by setting a stronger midpoint rate than expected. Despite these efforts, bond yields have dropped to record lows, indicating a tough economic climate. This uncertainty is bolstering the US dollar’s appeal, as markets expect a Federal Reserve rate cut, drawing investors seeking stability.

Why should I care?

For markets: Investors look for safe harbors.

China's underwhelming strategies have led the US dollar to become a beacon of safety for investors. With China's bond yields at historic lows, the profitability of Chinese investments is under scrutiny. The yuan's dip against the dollar might redirect global capital flows to the US, impacting emerging market currencies and international investment dynamics.

China is cautiously stimulating its economy, wary of unleashing consumer stimulus unless an economic crisis arises, while considering a weaker yuan to counterbalance possible US tariffs by 2025. This calculated approach emphasizes China's delicate act of fostering growth while maintaining currency stability, reflecting the challenges of steering a massive economy like China’s amid global pressures and shifting geopolitical landscapes.