In this April 14, 2016 file photo, Nate Parker, director of the upcoming film "The Birth of a Nation," accepts the Breakthrough Director of the Year award during the CinemaCon 2016 Big Screen Achievement Awards in Las Vegas. (Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP, File)
LOS ANGELES (AP) --
The American Film Institute has canceled plans to screen writer-director Nate Parker's "The Birth of a Nation" for students this week amid controversies surrounding a 17-year-old rape accusation against Parker and his co-writer.
The school planned to show the film and host a Q&A with Parker for its fellows, but late Tuesday, AFI dean Jan Schuette sent a note to students saying they would postpone until later in the year.
It would have marked the first time Parker has appeared in public since the case resurfaced nearly two weeks ago. Parker was acquitted.
Schuette said the school plans to hold a moderated discussion to explore issues of "messenger and message, gender, race and more."
Fox Searchlight still plans to release "The Birth of a Nation" on Oct. 7.
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
