Free agent quarterback Colin Kaepernick arrives for a workout for NFL football scouts and media in Riverdale, Ga., on Nov. 16, 2019. ESPN Films announced Tuesday, Feb. 1, 2022, that Spike Lee will direct a multi-part documentary for EPSPN on Kaepernick that features extensive interviews with the former San Francisco 49ers quarterback and access to his personal archive. (AP Photo/Todd Kirkland, File)
LOS ANGELES (AP) --
Spike Lee will direct a multi-part documentary for ESPN on Colin Kaepernick that features extensive interviews with the former San Francisco 49ers quarterback and access to his personal archive.
ESPN Films announced Tuesday that Lee would weave never-before-seen footage from Kaepernick's archive to provide "a full, first-person account of his journey."
Kaepernick last played pro football in 2016, the same year he started kneeling during the national anthem to protest racial injustice. Although the NFL has encouraged teams to look at Kaepernick, he has yet to receive another pro contract.
No title or release date for the docu-series was announced.
Lee directed the 2009 film, "Kobe Doin' Work," on Lakers great Kobe Bryant. That film examined Bryant's work ethic and basketball prowess through a single Lakers game against the San Antonio Spurs.
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
