A former researcher at OpenAI, 26-year-old Suchir Balaji, has been found dead in his San Francisco apartment. Balaji had left OpenAI earlier in the year and publicly voiced concerns over alleged copyright violations by the company in developing its ChatGPT chatbot.
The San Francisco Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, represented by Executive Director David Serrano Sewell, said in an email that Balaji’s death has been ruled as a suicide, with his family having been informed of the situation. On November 26, officers from the San Francisco Police Department conducted a welfare check at an apartment on Buchanan Street. Subsequently, they discovered a deceased adult male and reported no signs of foul play in their preliminary findings.
In October, the New York Times highlighted Balaji’s apprehensions about the potential impact of AI technologies like ChatGPT on the profitability of creators and organizations supplying the data used for AI training. Balaji had expressed a firm belief that leaving the company was necessary due to these concerns.
Meanwhile, OpenAI is currently embroiled in legal challenges from various publishers and artists over the alleged misuse of copyrighted content. Chief Executive Sam Altman of OpenAI stated at a press event that training on particular datasets does not substantially influence the company’s AI models, suggesting a misunderstanding about the necessity of specific data sources.
An OpenAI spokesman conveyed the organization’s grief and extended condolences to Balaji’s family.
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A former researcher at OpenAI, 26-year-old Suchir Balaji, has been found dead in his San Francisco apartment. Balaji had left OpenAI earlier in the year and publicly voiced concerns over alleged copyright violations by the company in developing its ChatGPT chatbot.
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President-elect Donald J. Trump has expressed a fondness for the Chinese-owned social media platform TikTok, which could be banned in the United States unless its parent company divests from it. Trump stated that he would look into preventing the app from being banned in the United States, saying, “I have a warm spot in my heart for TikTok.”
The President-elect referenced his strong performance among younger voters, explaining that “there are those that say that TikTok had something to do with it.”
Trump also noted that his appearance on podcasts like the Joe Rogan Experience contributed to his victory, crediting his youngest son, Barron Trump, for advising him to take part. Barron was previously praised by Democrat mega-donor John Morgan, who stated, “Barron Trump is a lot smarter than everybody in the Harris [campaign],” following Trump’s victory.
TikTok has been trying to counter the planned ban, with a spokesman saying the company planned to take the issue to the United States Supreme Court. “The voices of over 170 million Americans here in the U.S. and around the world will be silenced on January 19th, 2025 unless the TikTok ban is halted,” the spokesman said.
TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, is connected to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), and its owner, Zhang Yiming, recently became the wealthiest man in China, making a $49.3 billion fortune. Though he stepped down from day-to-day operations in 2021, Yimming still owns a 20 percent share in ByteDance.
Pew Research Center estimates that as many as 39 percent of American adults aged 18 to 29 use TikTok as their primary news source.
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President-elect Donald J. Trump has expressed a fondness for the Chinese-owned social media platform TikTok, which could be banned in the United States unless its parent company divests from it. Trump stated that he would look into preventing the app from being banned in the United States, saying, "I have a warm spot in my heart for TikTok."
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Luigi Mangione, accused of murdering UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, has made a significant addition to his legal team. On Friday, Karen Friedman Agnifilo—a CNN legal analyst and former Manhattan prosecutor under then-District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr.—was named as the suspected murderer‘s legal representative. Friedman Agnifilo handled many of the most high-profile prosecutions for the Manhattan DA’s office. Her firm, Agnifilo Intrater LLP, confirmed the announcement.
Mangione, aged 26, was apprehended earlier last week in a McDonald’s in Pennsylvania after being identified by a customer from police bulletins. Authorities claim that he was carrying a weapon, documents, and a mask linking him to the December 4 murder outside the New York Hilton Midtown. Thompson was shot during his arrival for an investor meeting.
TIES TO MEIDASTOUCH & JACK SMITH.
Friedman Agnifilo, with a background as a former Chief Assistant District Attorney in Manhattan and experience as a legal adviser to Law & Order and legal analyst for CNN, brings added attention to this case. The former prosecutor has deep ties with numerous government figures including Biden’s Department of Justice (DOJ) special prosecutor Jack Smith. Additionally, she is a contributor to the infamous left-wing, anti-Trump MeidasTouch network.
Her husband, Mark Agnifilo, is currently representing Sean “Diddy” Combs in his federal trial over allegations of racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking, and transportation to engage in prostitution.
Prosecutors, led by current Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, aim to extradite Mangione from Pennsylvania. Bragg has indicated readiness to proceed with the case, irrespective of Mangione’s decision on extradition. Meanwhile, Mangione is being held without bail, facing charges including intentional murder and weapons possession.
Initially, Mangione’s Pennsylvania attorney, Thomas Dickey, signaled opposition to extradition; however, recent statements from Bragg hint at a potential change in stance. Involvement from governors may become necessary, with Governor Kathy Hochul (D-NY) prepared to collaborate with Gov. Josh Shapiro (D-PA) on a governor’s warrant if required.
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Luigi Mangione, accused of murdering UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, has made a significant addition to his legal team. On Friday, Karen Friedman Agnifilo—a CNN legal analyst and former Manhattan prosecutor under then-District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr.—was named as the suspected murderer's legal representative. Friedman Agnifilo handled many of the most high-profile prosecutions for the Manhattan DA's office. Her firm, Agnifilo Intrater LLP, confirmed the announcement.
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The corporate media is running scared over concerns that ABC’s decision to settle a legal dispute with President-elect Donald J. Trump for $15 million means their false reporting could be subject to litigation as well. CNN‘s Jim Acosta and Brian Stelter blasted the settlement stemming from comments made by Clinton-operative-turned-journalist George Stephanopoulos, who repeatedly claimed during a March 10, 2024, broadcast that Trump was “found liable for rape.” However, a Manhattan jury found Trump was not liable for rape, but only for battery.
Acosta kicked off the segment lamenting about “this bending the knee going on,” asking Stelter: “Brian, this, I mean, this is pretty unusual and disturbing. What do you make of all this and this ugly legal fight that is trying to be avoided by ABC and Disney?”
“Right. Trump has a long history of filing lawsuits, including against news outlets. Most of the time, those cases get thrown out. Judges see right through those frivolous cases and throw them out,” Stelter replied, noting the prospect of legal discovery may have a motivating factor “because there might have been embarrassing emails or text messages on ABC servers that were going to become public.”
He continued: “So this might have been a case where ABC is avoiding public embarrassment by paying $15 million. But look, there’s a lot of people that say that payment is embarrassing as well. So this is not the end of the story.”
FEAR OF LITIGATION.
“Media lawyers are worried about this, they’re preparing for it,” Stelter told Acosta, adding: ” They are preparing their newsrooms for it with the expectation of more lawsuits, more leak investigations, more subpoenas in the months and years to come. You know, there’s a great AP story about this this morning saying there’s a balancing act right now for the press between being fearful and just being prepared, doing our jobs, but being aware of the climate.”
According to the CNN commentator, a source at ABC simply told him: “We needed this problem to go away.”
WATCH:
CNN’s Jim Acosta and Brian Stelter are playing the victim because ABC lied, got caught, and paid the price.
The media is blatantly arguing that they should not be held accountable for lying to you. pic.twitter.com/YllmqgUasf
The corporate media is running scared over concerns that ABC's decision to settle a legal dispute with President-elect Donald J. Trump for $15 million means their false reporting could be subject to litigation as well. CNN's Jim Acosta and Brian Stelter blasted the settlement stemming from comments made by Clinton-operative-turned-journalist George Stephanopoulos, who repeatedly claimed during a March 10, 2024, broadcast that Trump was "found liable for rape." However, a Manhattan jury found Trump was not liable for rape, but only for battery.
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Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY), the outgoing Senate Republican leader, is attacking the America First movement and key components of President-elect Donald J. Trump’s foreign policy. In an essay for Foreign Affairs, McConnell urged Trump to abandon America First positions, which he describes as misguided steps towards isolationism and decline.
The 82-year-old Kentucky Republican emphasized the supposed importance of U.S. global interventions, calling for increased foreign aid, support for NATO, and more military aid to Ukraine. During his first presidential administration, Trump pushed NATO members to meet their funding obligations, suggesting the U.S. would decline to support them if they did not. Additionally, during the 2024 presidential race, the now-President-elect pledged to end the war in Ukraine, negating the need for any additional military aid.
In the essay, McConnell complains about the possibility of the U.S. relinquishing its global primacy, writing, “To pretend that the United States can… afford to shrug off faraway chaos as irrelevant is to ignore its global interests and its adversaries’ global designs.”
In an interview with The Financial Times earlier in December, he appeared to directly compare the rise of the Trump movement to the rise of the Nazis in Germany, telling the newspaper, “We’re in a very, very dangerous world right now, reminiscent of before World War Two. Even the slogan is the same. ‘America First.’ That was what they said in the ’30s.”
His comments signal potential friction between him and the incoming Trump administration, especially regarding the United States’ role in Ukrainian defense.
The senator, who is set to chair the Senate Appropriations Defense subcommittee, plans to use his position to advocate for his preferred policies. The elderly lawmaker has not said whether he will seek reelection in 2026, despite suffering several health incidents in recent years, including at least two instances where he mysteriously froze for a prolonged period while addressing the media.
Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY), the outgoing Senate Republican leader, is attacking the America First movement and key components of President-elect Donald J. Trump's foreign policy. In an essay for Foreign Affairs, McConnell urged Trump to abandon America First positions, which he describes as misguided steps towards isolationism and decline.
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Canada’s globalist Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister, Chrystia Freeland, has resigned shortly before releasing a fiscal update, claiming that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called on her to leave last Friday. The resignation follows what Freeland described as growing differences with Prime Minister Trudeau over the country’s economic direction.
In a letter shared on social media, Freeland detailed that Trudeau informed her last Friday of his desire for a change in the finance portfolio. Freeland acknowledged that she had lost the Prime Minister’s confidence. She declined an offer for a different ministerial role but expressed her desire to remain active in politics by running in the next federal election.
Freeland and Trudeau have reportedly disagreed on various issues. Freeland is concerned about the threat of 25 percent tariffs mentioned by President-elect Donald J. Trump, who is pressuring Canada to secure its border. In her letter, she described Trudeau as engaging in “costly political gimmicks, which we can ill afford” rather than taking Trump’s tariff threat seriously.
Freeland has been one of Trudeau’s closest allies over the years and is a noted globalist, working directly with the World Economic Forum (WEF) as a member of the Forum’s Board of Trustees.
Part Ukrainian, Freeland has also been a hawk regarding the war between Russia and Ukraine and has been banned from entering Russia for years. Controversially, her grandfather was a Nazi sympathizer during the Second World War, running a pro-Nazi newspaper.
In September of last year, Freeland was one of the Liberal Party members who greeted Ukrainian Waffen SS veteran Jaroslav Hunka in the Canadian parliament during President Volodymyr Zelensky’s visit.
Canada's globalist Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister, Chrystia Freeland, has resigned shortly before releasing a fiscal update, claiming that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called on her to leave last Friday. The resignation follows what Freeland described as growing differences with Prime Minister Trudeau over the country's economic direction.
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Congressional leaders are facing a pressing deadline as they work to avert a partial government shutdown by the end of the week. With the clock ticking, negotiators have been engaged in intensive talks over the weekend to hammer out an agreement, though House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) has not yet presented a framework for a deal.
The official text of the proposed legislation is anticipated to be released on Monday or Tuesday following the finalization of ongoing negotiations. A significant point of contention in these discussions has been the issue of aid to farmers, which Democrats do not want to approve without various concessions. Conversely, farm district Republicans are warning they will not back a funding bill that does not include aid for farmers.
This potential government shutdown looms at a time of considerable fiscal pressure, with the national debt now standing at $36.1 trillion. Lawmakers failing to reach an agreement could lead to disruptions in federal services and programs, affecting millions of Americans. It is also likely that any funding bill will include billions of dollars in aid for victims of Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Milton, leaving any lawmakers who oppose other aspects of the legislation open to bad faith criticisms for not endorsing the bill in its entirety.
Congressional leaders are facing a pressing deadline as they work to avert a partial government shutdown by the end of the week. With the clock ticking, negotiators have been engaged in intensive talks over the weekend to hammer out an agreement, though House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) has not yet presented a framework for a deal.
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Former Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad has issued his first statement since his ouster by Turkey-backed jihadist rebels, denying he fled the country as “part of a plan” and claiming he initially intended to carry on fighting from the Alawite heartland of Latakia. “As terrorism spread across Syria and ultimately reached Damascus on the evening of Saturday 7 December 2024, questions arose about the president’s fate and whereabouts,” reads the statement—posted to a Telegram account associated with the Syrian presidency but not yet independently verified. It complains of “a flood of misinformation and narratives far removed from the truth, aimed at recasting international terrorism as a liberation revolution for Syria.”
Assad, if he is the author of the statement, said he traveled to the Russian airbase of Hmeimim in Latakia, only hours after rebel forces had entered Damascus, intending to “oversee combat operations.” Latakia is home to most of Syria’s Alawite minority, which the Assad clan hails from, and he may have hoped members of the Shia offshoot sect would offer stiffer resistance to the mostly Sunni jihadists of the Hayʼat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group than government forces elsewhere.
However, Assad claims he found that Syrian soldiers had already left their posts and that the Russians made the decision to exfiltrate after Hmeimim began to be targeted by drones.
“With no viable means of leaving the base, Moscow requested that the base’s command arrange an immediate evacuation to Russia on the evening of Sunday 8 December,” Assad said. “This took place a day after the fall of Damascus, following the collapse of the final military positions and the resulting paralysis of all remaining state institutions.”
NO PLAN TO LEAVE.
“At no point during these events did I consider stepping down or seeking refuge, nor was such a proposal made by any individual or part,” Assad insisted, claiming that, in his mind, the “only course of action was to continue fighting against the terrorist onslaught,” and he “did not leave the country as part of a plan as it was reported earlier.”
The whereabouts of Assad, his wife Asma, and their three children were initially unclear. Russian officials later confirmed their departure following negotiations with rebels. There are concerns hundreds of thousands of Syrians, including Alawites like Assad, may attempt to leave the country like their former leader, fearing reprisals by the al-Qaeda-linked new regime.
Former Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad has issued his first statement since his ouster by Turkey-backed jihadist rebels, denying he fled the country as "part of a plan" and claiming he initially intended to carry on fighting from the Alawite heartland of Latakia. "As terrorism spread across Syria and ultimately reached Damascus on the evening of Saturday 7 December 2024, questions arose about the president's fate and whereabouts," reads the statement—posted to a Telegram account associated with the Syrian presidency but not yet independently verified. It complains of "a flood of misinformation and narratives far removed from the truth, aimed at recasting international terrorism as a liberation revolution for Syria."
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CNN, which continues to bleed viewers and struggle to remainsolvent, claimed a man in Syria they helped free last week was a political prisoner of the Assad regime. However, the individual is now believed to be a notorious regime torturer who disguised himself to evade capture.
In a video that has gone viral online, CNN journalist Clarissa Ward and a camera crew—accompanied by a Syrian rebel solider—help escort a man identifying himself as Adel Ghurbal from a Damascus prison. According to Ghurbal, he had been imprisoned 90 days before the fall of the Syrian capital and was confined to a windowless cell. However, the man’s behavior appeared strange to many who viewed the video.
While Ghurbal claimed to have not seen sunlight in 90 days, he didn’t wince when outdoors in the sun again. Additionally, Ghurbal was well groomed for someone confined to a damp and dark cell for three months—his hair and fingernails appeared well-kept, and he showed no signs of torture commonly seen in other prisons freed by the rebels.
NOTORIOUS TORTURER.
However, analysis by the independent Syrian civil war fact checker Verify-Sy suggests that the prisoner’s real name is not Adel Ghurbal at all. Instead, the man in the video is actually believed to be Salama Mohammad Salama. A first lieutenant in Syrian Air Force intelligence, Salama is an alleged war criminal and one of the Assad regime’s top torturers, who would often extort prisoners for money in exchange for not torturing them.
According to local Damascus residents, Salama was confined in the prison for just a few weeks following a dispute with a superior over dividing the extortion money.
CNN says it is aware that the man in its video may have given a false identity and is investigating the matter.
WATCH:
“Syria is free.”
Extraordinary moment as @clarissaward and her team witness a Syrian prisoner freed from a secret prison in Damascus.
Left alone for days without food, water or light, the man was unaware Bashar al-Assad’s regime had fallen. pic.twitter.com/ZAnGiBlLON
CNN, which continues to bleed viewers and struggle to remainsolvent, claimed a man in Syria they helped free last week was a political prisoner of the Assad regime. However, the individual is now believed to be a notorious regime torturer who disguised himself to evade capture.
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Polling suggests that the general public in the United Kingdom is more favorable to socialism than capitalism, although environmentalism is the most popular ideology overall. Socialism in Britain has long been linked to institutions like the National Health Service (NHS), which remains one of the most popular institutions in the country, despite major scandals.
Despite the results, broadly socialist candidates like former Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn have failed to win elections.
Conservatism, which came third in the polling by YouGov, is also largely associated with the Conservative Party, which just suffered a historic loss to the Labour Party in the national election in July. However, the Conservatives, or Tories, legalized same-sex marriages and presided over the rise of woke ideology in Britain, and are not socially conservative in any meaningful, ideological sense.
Populism, often associated with the rise of Brexit leader Nigel Farage’s Reform Party, is only slightly more popular than communism among Britons. Reform, however, does not refer to itself as a “populist” party, referring to its anti-mass migration stance and other policies as “common sense.”
Reform is becoming increasingly popular in Britain, with polls showing the party ahead of Labour, which has a large majority in parliament and currently governs the country under Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer.
While the Tories are number one in the polls, their lead is not significantly ahead of Reform, and as many as 53 percent of Tory members support the party joining forces with Farage in either an alliance or outright merger.
Polling suggests that the general public in the United Kingdom is more favorable to socialism than capitalism, although environmentalism is the most popular ideology overall. Socialism in Britain has long been linked to institutions like the National Health Service (NHS), which remains one of the most popular institutions in the country, despite major scandals.
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