Parents Of Dead OpenAI Whistleblower Sue San Francisco, Alleging Murder Cover-Up

The family of Suchir Balaji say he was killed and didn’t eliminate himself. Now they have actually taken legal action against San Francisco and its authorities department.

Decrypt’s Art, Fashion, and Entertainment Hub.

The moms and dads of departed OpenAI whistleblower Suchir Balaji have taken legal action against the city of San Francisco and the San Francisco Police Department, alleging that the genuine reason for his death was not suicide, however murder.

The claim, filed in January, declares that the SFPD covered up the crime, ruling it a suicide without performing a thorough investigation.

Balaji, who had worked as a scientist at OpenAI, was discovered dead in his San Francisco apartment last November. Attorneys say Balaji’s parents, Poornima Ramarao and Balaji Ramamurthy, requested even more examination into his death but were informed the case was currently closed.

« The claim demands that the city, cops department, and medical inspector release public files withheld under the general public Records Act, » Joseph Goethals, lawyer for the petitioners, told Decrypt. He said that if the documents weren’t supplied within 10 days, and « no valid exceptions use, a claim can force their release. We will look for a court order to obtain them. »

The claim claims that SFPD violated the California Public Records Act by unlawfully withholding public records of the case. Attorneys for Ramarao and Ramamurthy likewise argued that the investigation into their child’s death was hurried and inadequate, with authorities neglecting essential forensic findings and failing to address their demands for further questions.

The claim requires the instant disclosure of all reports, photos, and videos, wikitravel.org along with protection of legal expenses.

Said Geothals: « If the San Francisco Superior Court does not translate and enforce the law correctly, we will seek option with the Court of Appeal. We hope it does not pertain to that. »

Balaji worked for OpenAI from November 2020 to August 2024. In an interview with The New York Times in October, he said that before the public launch of ChatGPT in November 2022, he had helped OpenAI collect and use « massive quantities » of information taken from the internet without .

According to the claim, in December, Balaji’s family worked with forensic pathologist Dr. Joseph Cohen to perform a private autopsy. In his report, Dr. Cohen identified that there was a single gunshot injury in the mid-forehead, a little to the right of the bridge of his nose.

Dr. Cohen said that the bullet trajectory was unusual for a suicide, as it traveled downward at a small left-to-right angle, totally missing the brain before lodging in the brainstem, according to the suit. Dr. Cohen identified a contusion on the back of Balaji’s head, which he said raised even more questions about the scenarios of his death.

The San Francisco Police Department did not right away react to an ask for remark by Decrypt.

The claim called out the scenarios of Bilaji’s death. His body was discovered a week after The New York Times mentioned the whistleblower in a court filing related to its claim against OpenAI.

Despite Balaji’s revelations, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman pushed back on the New york city Times’ claims. Speaking at the newspaper’s yearly DealBook Summit, trademarketclassifieds.com Altman dismissed the claims.