In this Dec. 9, 2016 file photo, Madonna attends the 11th Annual Billboard Women in Music honors in New York. MGM Motion Picture Group president Jonathan Glickman says Tuesday that the pop music icon will direct a film based on ballet dancer Michaela DePrince memoir “Taking Flight: From War Orphan to Star Ballerina.” DePrince overcame a childhood in war-stricken Sierra Leone to become a world class ballerina. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, File)
LOS ANGELES (AP) --
Madonna is pirouetting back into the director's chair.
MGM Motion Picture Group president Jonathan Glickman says Tuesday that the pop music icon will direct a film based on ballet dancer Michaela DePrince's memoir "Taking Flight: From War Orphan to Star Ballerina."
DePrince overcame a childhood in war-stricken Sierra Leone to become a world class ballerina. She made her debut at age 17 in South Africa's Joburg Ballet and also appeared in Beyonce's "Lemonade."
Madonna has directed two previous features: The 2008 comedy "Filth and Wisdom" and the Wallis Simpson drama "W.E." She is also working on a film adaptation of the novel "The Impossible Lives of Greta Wells."
No cast or release date is set for "Taking Flight," but "Fresh Off the Boat" writer Camilla Blackett will pen the screenplay.
Suchir Balaji poses for a photo in Hawaii in 2018. Balaji was a former OpenAI engineer and whistleblower who died in November 2024. (Balaji Ramamurthy via AP)
Suchir Balaji, a former OpenAI engineer and whistleblower who helped train the artificial intelligence systems behind ChatGPT and later said he believed those practices violated copyright law, has died, according to his parents and San Francisco officials. He was 26.
Balaji worked at OpenAI for nearly four years before quitting in August. He was well-regarded by colleagues at the San Francisco company, where a co-founder this week called him one of OpenAI's strongest contributors who was essential to developing some of its products.
"We are devastated to learn of this incredibly sad news and our hearts go out to Suchir's loved ones during this difficult time," said a statement from OpenAI.
Balaji was found dead in his San Francisco apartment on Nov. 26 in what police said "appeared to be a suicide. No evidence of foul play was found during the initial investigation." The city's chief medical examiner's office confirmed the manner of death to be suicide.
His parents Poornima Ramarao and Balaji Ramamurthy said they are still seeking answers, describing their son as a "happy, smart and brave young man" who loved to hike and recently returned from a trip with friends.
Balaji grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area and first arrived at the fledgling AI research lab for a 2018 summer internship while studying computer science at the University of California, Berkeley. He returned a few years later to work at OpenAI, where one of his first projects, called WebGPT, helped pave the way for ChatGPT.
"Suchir's contributions to this project were essential, and it wouldn't have succeeded without him," said OpenAI co-founder John Schulman in a social media post memorializing Balaji. Schulman, who recruited Balaji to his team, said what... Read More
