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.

 Former stripper and convicted murderer Crystal Mangum admitted Thursday that she lied and “made up a story” that three Duke University lacrosse players raped her at a team party in 2006. 

“They trusted me that I wouldn’t betray their trust, and I testified falsely against them by saying that they raped me when they didn’t, and that was wrong,” Magnum told the independent media outlet Let’s Talk With Kat at the North Carolina Correctional Institution for Women.

“[I] made up a story that wasn’t true.”

7

Mangum, 46, said she made up the allegation because she “wanted validation from people and not from God.”

The exotic dancer, who is in prison for the second-degree murder of her boyfriend in 2013, asked former players David Evans, Collin Finnerty and Reade Seligmann for forgiveness

I hope that they can forgive me,” she said, referring to the men as her “brothers” in the biblical sense. “I want them to know that I love them, and they didn’t deserve that, and I hope that they can forgive me.”

Mangum had never publicly stated that she fabricated the rape allegation before Thursday’s revelation. 

She can no longer be prosecuted for lying under oath since the statute of limitations on perjury charges under North Carolina law is two years.

Mangum’s shocking admission comes nearly two decades after she accused the lacrosse players of raping her while she was performing at a team party in March 2006.

7

7

Evans, Finnerty and Seligmann were arrested following the allegations.

The case garnered national attention and the tension was fueled when former Durham County district attorney Mike Nifong said in a March 2006 interview with CBS News that “there’s no doubt a sexual assault took place” and that the assault was “racially motivated.”

“The circumstances of the rape indicated a deep racial motivation for some of the things that were done. It makes a crime that is by its nature one of the most offensive and invasive even more so,” said Nifong, who served as the lead prosecutor in the case.

Nifong initially said that DNA would prove the players’ innocence, but he reversed his statement when the tests returned negative.

7

Former Duke University president Richard Brodhead also took action against the team following the accusations.

Brodhead accepted then-head men’s lacrosse coach Mike Pressler’s resignation, canceled the remainder of the season, and suspended the three players from school after they were indicted for rape — despite asking the public not to prejudge the criminal case, NPR reported in 2007.

The three players were ultimately all found innocent of the crimes and the charges were dismissed in April 2007.

Former state Attorney General Roy Cooper — currently the state’s governor — did not prosecute Mangum for perjury after the case was dismissed due to concerns over her mental health. 

7David Evans #6, Collin Finnerty #13, and Reade Seligmann #45 on their warm-ups before the game against the Maryland Terrapins on March 2, 2007, at Byrd Stadium in College Park, Maryland. Getty Images

The North Carolina State Bar disbarred Nifong in June 2007 for lying in court and withholding DNA evidence that would have helped absolve the defendants.

Brodhead’s response to the matter came under scrutiny after the rape allegations were dropped and he provided a statement soon after.

“The fact is that we did not get it right, causing the families to feel abandoned when they most needed support,” he wrote in the 2007 statement. “This was a mistake. I take responsibility for it, and I apologize.”

Mangum confessed to lying about being raped by Duke Lacrosse players in an interview on the independent media outlet Let’s Talk With Kat on Thursday.

Evans, Finnerty and Seligmann sued Brodhead and the university after their case was dismissed and settled for an undisclosed amount.

They alleged that Brodhead repeatedly made false statements and conspired to deprive them of their right to a fair trial.

Evans graduated in 2006, while Seligmann transferred to Brown University and Finnerty to Loyola University Maryland.

 Dumb, stupid and very immature.

That’s how 49ers tight end George Kittle described De’Vondre Campbell’s meltdown in the third quarter Thursday night when the All-Pro linebacker refused to enter the NFC West game against the Rams after losing his starting spot.

“Whatever his decision was, it wasn’t for this organization, it wasn’t for this team and that’s on him,” Kittle said in his postgame press conference after San Francisco’s 12-6 defeat at Levi’s Stadium. “Not very happy about it. I would have had something to say. I wish I heard about it on the field, but I didn’t.

The 49ers lost linebackers Dre Greenlaw (knee) and Dee Winters (neck) to injuries during the game.

“It’s just dumb. It’s just stupid. It’s very immature,” Kittle said. “I just don’t see how you could do something like that to your team.”

Kittle explained that the situation didn’t cause any tensions as a team, and that Campbell — a ninth-year linebacker — made himself an outlier.

“[There is] not disbelief or disconnection as a team. That is one person, who just decided not to play for his teammates. I don’t that makes our offense or our defense look like we’re falling apart, it’s more of one person making a — like [49ers cornerback] Mooney [Charvarius Ward] said — selfish decision. And I’m with Mooney on that. I’ve never been around anybody that’s ever done that and I hope I’m never around anybody that does that again.”

“He’s a professional,” Ward said after the game. “He’s been playing for a long time. If he didn’t want to play, he shouldn’t have dressed out. He could have told them that before the game. I feel like that was some sucka s–t that he did. It definitely hurt the team. Dee went down and we needed a linebacker … So, for him to do that, that’s some sucka stuff to me, in my opinion. He’s probably going to get cut soon, so it is what it is with that.”

Campbell refused to enter the game when called on in the third quarter and he then walked to the locker room with a towel over his head.

Head coach Kyle Shanahan then turned to Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles, who was the only healthy linebacker left on the active roster.

“He said he didn’t want to play today,” Shanahan said of Campbell.

The 49ers signed Campbell as an unrestricted free agent from the Packers in March.

He started 12 of 13 games for the 49ers going into Thursday’s game, but the team had been phasing him out for Greenlaw’s return.