Finn Jones, center, gestures to the audience as Mike Colter, left, and Sigourney Weaver look on at the "Marvel's The Defenders" panel on day two of Comic-Con International on Friday, July 21, 2017, in San Diego. (Photo by Al Powers/Invision/AP)
By Sandy Cohen, Entertainment Writer
SAN DIEGO, Calif. (AP) --
The head of Marvel Television surprised fans at Comic-Con Friday by showing the entire first episode of the new Netflix series "The Defenders."
The show that unites superheroes Jessica Jones, Luka Cage, Daredevil and Iron Fist premieres next month. Sigourney Weaver plays the villain.
Weaver and the rest of the cast, including Krysten Ritter, Mike Colter, Charlie Cox and Finn Jones, appeared during the presentation inside the San Diego Convention Center's largest exhibit hall.
Marvel Television's Jeph Loeb got a surprise himself: He received the Comic-Con Inkpot Award just as he was beginning the presentation. Comic-Con's programming director Eddie Ibrahim choked up as he presented Loeb with the award, saying his work in comics and television inspired his career path. The award recognizes achievements in sci-fi, fantasy and comics.
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
