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

The household of Suchir Balaji state he was murdered and didn’t kill himself. Now they’ve taken legal action against San Francisco and its police department.

Decrypt’s Art, Fashion, and Entertainment Hub.

The moms and dads of departed OpenAI whistleblower Suchir Balaji have actually taken legal action against the city of San Francisco and the San Francisco Police Department, that the real cause of his death was not suicide, but murder.

The claim, submitted in January, declares that the SFPD covered up the crime, ruling it a suicide without conducting an extensive examination.

Balaji, who had worked as a researcher at OpenAI, was discovered dead in his San Francisco apartment last November. Attorneys say Balaji’s moms and dads, Poornima Ramarao and Balaji Ramamurthy, requested even more investigation into his death however were informed the case was already closed.

“The claim requires that the city, authorities department, and medical examiner release public files withheld under the general public Records Act,” Joseph Goethals, attorney for the petitioners, informed Decrypt. He said that if the files weren’t supplied within 10 days, and “no valid exceptions apply, a claim can compel their release. We will look for a court order to obtain them.”

The claim claims that SFPD breached the California Public Records Act by unlawfully withholding public records of the case. Attorneys for Ramarao and Ramamurthy also argued that the investigation into their kid’s death was hurried and insufficient, with authorities overlooking essential forensic findings and failing to address their requests for further inquiry.

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

Said Geothals: “If the San Francisco Superior Court does not interpret and enforce the law correctly, we will seek recourse with the Court of Appeal. We hope it doesn’t pertain to that.”

Balaji worked for OpenAI from November 2020 to August 2024. In an interview with The New york city Times in October, photorum.eclat-mauve.fr he said that before the public launch of ChatGPT in November 2022, he had actually helped OpenAI collect and utilize “huge quantities” of information taken from the internet without authorization.

According to the claim, in December, Balaji’s family hired forensic pathologist Dr. Joseph Cohen to perform a private autopsy. In his report, Dr. Cohen determined that there was a single gunshot wound 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 slight left-to-right angle, entirely missing out on the brain before lodging in the brainstem, according to the suit. Dr. Cohen recognized a contusion on the back of Balaji’s head, which he said raised even more concerns about the circumstances of his death.

The San Francisco Police Department did not immediately react to an ask for comment by Decrypt.

The claim called out the situations of Bilaji’s death. His body was found a week after The New york city Times pointed out the whistleblower in a court filing related to its claim against OpenAI.

Despite Balaji’s discoveries, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman pushed back on the New York Times’ claims. Speaking at the paper’s yearly DealBook Summit, Altman dismissed the claims.