Chris Meledandri, founder and CEO of Illumination Entertainment, addresses the audience during the Universal Pictures presentation at CinemaCon 2016, the official convention of the National Association of Theatre Owners (NATO), at Caesars Palace on Wednesday, April 13, 2016, in Las Vegas. (Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP)
By Lindsey Bahr, Film Writer
LAS VEGAS (AP) --
The Grinch has a new voice: Benedict Cumberbatch. Universal Pictures announced the collaboration Wednesday night at CinemaCon, an annual gathering of theater owners in Las Vegas.
Universal's Illumination Entertainment founder and CEO Chris Meledandri also said "South Park" co-creator and star Trey Parker would be voicing the villain role in "Despicable Me 3."
In addition, the studio previewed the latest action-packed installment in the Bourne series, "Jason Bourne," which sees the return of star Matt Damon in the title role. Tommy Lee Jones and recent Oscar-winner Alicia Vikander also star in the Paul Greengrass-directed film, inspired by WikiLeaks and Edward Snowden.
Kevin Hart promoted his concert film "What Now?" and audiences got a look at the big-screen adaptation of best-selling novel "The Girl on the Train," starring Emily Blunt.
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
