Mr Balaji spent nearly four years at OpenAI, where he contributed to data collection for the company's flagship product, ChatGPT. After its release in 2022, he began questioning the legal and ethical implications of OpenAI's practices. By mid-2023, he concluded that such AI technologies were damaging to the internet and society, prompting his resignation.
His death occurred a day after he was named in a court filing as someone whose files OpenAI would search as part of a lawsuit brought by those who sued the AI giant.
Mr Balaji's death was ruled a suicide, according to the San Francisco Police.