In this Dec. 11, 2018 file photo, The Fearless Girl statue stands at its new location in front of the New York Stock Exchange. Fearless Girl" statue creator Kristen Visbal is being sued by a group that says she failed to make a 9-foot (2.7-meter) bronze replica of Alexander Hamilton. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, File)
LEWES, Del. (AP) --
The Delaware artist who created the "Fearless Girl" statue is being sued by a group that says she failed to make a 9-foot (2.7-meter) bronze replica of Alexander Hamilton.
The News Journal reports the U.S. Coast Guard Academy Alumni Association's lawsuit says Kristen Visbal breached a $28,000 contract to create the statue.
The lawsuit says Visbal agreed in February 2017 to create a preliminary model of the Hamilton statue. That was around one month before "Fearless Girl" appeared a few blocks from the New York Stock Exchange, commissioned by an asset management firm to support greater female representation on corporate boards.
The lawsuit says Visbal never delivered. The association terminated its agreement last June, demanding a refund.
The suit seeks that refund and other fees.
Visbal didn't immediately respond to the newspaper's request for comment.
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
