This combination photo shows Harrison Ford at a hand and footprint ceremony for director Ridley Scott in Los Angeles on May 17, 2017, left, and Lady Gaga at a press conference for "Gaga: Five Foot Two" on day 2 of the Toronto International Film Festival on Sept. 8, 2017, in Toronto. (AP Photo)
LOS ANGELES (AP) --
Harrison Ford and Lady Gaga are being honored by the SAG-AFTRA Foundation with the Artists Inspiration Award for their contributions to humanitarian and philanthropic causes.
The non-profit organization says Tuesday that the awards will be presented at its third annual Patron of the Artists Awards on Nov. 8 in Beverly Hills.
Both Gaga and Ford are actively involved in a number of philanthropic and advocacy organizations. For over 25 years, Ford has been an advocate for the environmental non-profit Conservation International where he serves as the vice chairman of the board of directors. Gaga started the Born This Way Foundation which focuses on empowering youth and mental health research.
Previous honorees include Leonardo DiCaprio and Lionel Ritchie.
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
