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    Dutch food specialist Chuck Studios to expand with U.S. office

    By SHOOTUpdated:No Comments1751 Views
    Chuck Studios' (l-r) Elyse Sara, Ellen Gaedtgens and Olaf van Gerwen
    LOS ANGELES --

    Chuck Studios, a global food-specialist creative production company, has opened a U.S. base in Los Angeles. Heading the L.A. office is partner and managing director of U.S. operations Elyse Sara whose former company Canteen has joined forces with Chuck Studios, which was founded in 2011 by Ellen Gaedtgens and Olaf van Gerwen and is headquartered in Amsterdam with a third office in Moscow. The food/tabletop shop has a U.S. directorial roster which includes van Gerwen, and the duo Spicy and Kristy Snell. Some of the production company’s most recent work includes multi-platform food campaigns for McDonald’s, KFC and Clif Bar. 

    Sara brings 15 years of production industry experience, working with brands such as McDonald’s, Burger King, Heinz and Pepsi. Sara will work alongside the leadership team to change the way food and beverage brands perceive themselves, helping them develop a culinary identity that is exclusive to their brand and product. 

    “Chuck Studios has such a strong reputation in the industry, especially in Europe, and it only felt natural for them to expand to the U.S. next, said Sara. “I’m looking forward to working with Ellen and Olaf to bring Chuck Studios’ fresh creative perspective and Dutch charm to the West Coast.”

    Tags:Chuck StudiosEllen GaedtgensElyse SaraOlaf van Gerwen



    Ex-OpenAI engineer who raised legal concerns about the technology he helped build has died

    Saturday, December 21, 2024
    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

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