In this April 14, 2016 file photo, Ken Burns attends the 2016 Room To Grow Benefit, to support babies born into poverty, at Tribeca Three Sixty in New York. (Photo by Christopher Smith/Invision/AP)
WASHINGTON (AP) --
The Library of Congress will begin presenting an award named for Ken Burns, who elevated the craft of historical documentaries.
Officials announced on Tuesday the creation of the Library of Congress Lavine/Ken Burns Prize for Film. The annual award will recognize a filmmaker whose documentary uses original research and compelling narrative to tell stories about American history. The winner will receive a $200,000 grant to help with the final production of the film.
Burns says he's been fortunate to spend his career "focused on our country's history." He's hopeful a new generation can be engaged to understand America's past by supporting the work of new filmmakers.
Burns' works include "The Civil War," ''Baseball," ''Jazz" and "The Vietnam War."
Filmmakers can apply for the award online at The Better Angels Society.
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
