This combination photo shows Jennifer Lee at the world premiere of "A Wrinkle in Time" in Los Angeles on Feb. 26, 2018, left, and Pete Docter at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival in Santa Barbara, Calif., on Feb. 6, 2010. (AP Photo)
LOS ANGELES (AP) --
Walt Disney Studios chairman Alan Horn says Tuesday that Jennifer Lee and Pete Docter are taking over for former Disney animation and Pixar chief John Lasseter, who is departing Disney at the end of the year following misconduct allegations.
Both Oscar-winners and veterans of the Walt Disney Company, Lee, who co-directed "Frozen," has been named chief creative officer for the Walt Disney Animation Studios, and Docter, who is best known for "Up" and "Inside Out," is now the chief creative officer for Pixar Animation.
Horn says in a statement that both Lee and Docter embody the spirit, culture and values of their respective studios.
Lasseter in November announced a six-month sabbatical and apologized for "missteps" with employees. The animation titan will stay on as a consultant through 2018.
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
