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    Industry mourns Paul Salamunovich who helped score “The Godfather”

    By SHOOTUpdated:No Comments1085 Views
    This photo provided by courtesy of Los Angeles Master Chorale shows Music Director Emeritus of the Los Angeles Master Chorale, Paul Salamunovich, at the piano in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Los Angeles Master Chorale)
    LOS ANGELES (AP) --

    Paul Salamunovich, longtime director of the Los Angeles Master Chorale who helped score movies including "The Godfather," has died. He was 86.

    The chorale's publicist, Libby Huebner, says the Grammy-nominated conductor died Thursday of complications related to West Nile virus.

    From 1991 to 2001, Salamunovich exposed millions to choral music through recordings and live performances.

    The New York Times declared the chorus one of America's top vocal ensembles during his final season.

    Salamunovich also helped score and sing on soundtracks for numerous films, including "The Godfather," "How the West was Won" and "A.I. Artificial Intelligence."

    He was choral music director at St. Charles Borromeo Church in North Hollywood for 60 years until retiring in 2009.

    Salamunovich taught music at several colleges, including the University of Southern California's Thornton School of Music.




    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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