In this May 27, 2015 file photo, Laurence Fishburne arrives at the 2015 Television Academy Honors at The Montage Hotelin Beverly Hills, Calif. (Photo by Rich FuryInvision/AP, File)
LOS ANGELES (AP) --
Laurence Fishburne is joining the "Roots" miniseries remake.
A&E Networks said Wednesday that Fishburne will play writer Alex Haley, whose novel about his African-American ancestry was the basis of the original TV miniseries.
The new project will draw on the late Haley's novel, "Roots: The Saga of an American Family," along with new research, A&E said. The 1977 ABC miniseries was a ratings sensation.
Fishburne is a Tony Award-winning stage actor ("Two Trains Running") and Oscar nominee ("What's Love Got to Do With It"). He's become a familiar presence on TV in series including "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation," ''Hannibal" and ABC's comedy "black-ish."
No air date or other casting has been announced for the "Roots" remake that will debut simultaneously on the History, A&E and Lifetime channels.
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
