Balaji, who was an engineer helping train the artificial intelligence and data collection systems behind ChatGPT, was listed in court filings as a key witness in a lawsuit that accuses OpenAI of practices that broke the law.
I’m usually skeptical whenever parents say “our kid would never do such a thing” but the article reads like they have a point. Nothing’s substantiated though; I’d like to read more about this.
I don’t normally like indulging in speculation and I certainly can’t speak for anyone else, but suicide is very deep, dark pit of despair. It’s a last resort for end of the rope, no other options, extreme loss.
If I’m in a position like this where my testimony is being used to move forward a case against a giant corporation doing harm to others, I’m hanging on. At least until that’s accomplished. That’s the motivation, that’s the light. To get your voice heard and have an impact. Suicide nullifies that. As does murder … and yeah it sure seems like one party is more invested in not having his voice heard.
So many suicides happening right before a major trial. Wow what a coincidence. Oh look, some even left a note saying they aren’t suicidal. Huh, must be another coincidence. Wouldn’t want to look like a conspiracy theorist.
Even if it was a suicide, sometimes police work can be lazy.
My dad died unexpectedly at the age of 50. They didn’t do an autopsy, they just said it was probably due to smoking or drinking. They didn’t tell us why they thought that. I’m sure that’s it but I don’t actually know what killed him to this day. And honestly, it could have been suicide in my dad’s case. He unexpectedly quit his job earlier that year and was living off the remains of his retirement account. He didn’t have much left when he died.
I will never know.
This reads EXACTLY like the Michael Connelly novel I just read “The Proving Ground”.
AI tells kid to kill his ex-girlfriend, parents sue the company, Indian engineer who was a whistleblower that worked at said company and was a key witness for the trial found dead in apartment of apparent suicide.
Good book btw. for a mystery novel Connelly really knew his shit about LLMs.
Ah, it’s the Bosch guy. He’s a pretty good writer. The TV show’s good, too, but his books are even better. I both saw & read some episodes and still enjoyed both.
Probably not a coincidence either: The “suicide” above took place in 2024, the book you mention is from 2025.
yeah I started with “The Black Echo” and been hooked on his stuff ever since. finished two other Bosch and Lincoln Lawyer books in a week. I love how all his books/characters share a same universe and they all cross over with each other. I haven’t watched either of the two shows yet on bosch and haller but apparently they don’t share the same universe as the books.
