This Feb. 26, 2014 file photo shows actress Lupita Nyong'o at LoveGold Honors Academy Nominee Lupita Nyong'o in West Hollywood, Calif. (Photo by Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP, File)
NEW YORK (AP) --
The fashion and beauty industry's love affair with Lupita Nyong'o continues: The Oscar winner has been named the new face for Lancome.
The Mexican-born Kenyan will be the first black ambassador for the brand, which features Julia Roberts, Kate Winslet, Penelope Cruz and Lily Collins as spokeswomen. In a statement Friday, Nyong'o said she was proud to represent Lancome, adding "beauty should not be dictated, but should instead be an expression of a woman's freedom to be herself."
It's the first major endorsement deal for the 31-year-old, who won the best-supporting Oscar for her role in "12 Years a Slave." Her striking beauty and fashion sense made her the It Girl for the Hollywood awards season.
Lancome ads featuring Nyong'o will start appearing this summer.
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
