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

The household of Suchir Balaji state he was murdered 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 parents of departed OpenAI whistleblower Suchir Balaji have taken legal action against the city of San Francisco and the San Francisco Police Department, declaring that the real cause of his death was not suicide, but murder.

The claim, ura.cc filed in January, alleges that the SFPD concealed the criminal activity, ruling it a suicide without carrying out a thorough investigation.

Balaji, who had actually worked as a scientist at OpenAI, was discovered dead in his San Francisco home last November. Attorneys say Balaji's moms and dads, Poornima Ramarao and Balaji Ramamurthy, requested further investigation into his death but were told the case was currently closed.

"The claim demands that the city, authorities department, and medical examiner release public files kept under the Public Records Act," Joseph Goethals, lawyer for the petitioners, informed Decrypt. He said that if the files weren't offered within 10 days, and "no valid exceptions apply, a claim can oblige 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 keeping public records of the case. Attorneys for Ramarao and Ramamurthy likewise argued that the investigation into their son's death was hurried and insufficient, with officials ignoring key forensic findings and failing to resolve their demands for more questions.

The claim demands the immediate disclosure of all reports, photos, and videos, together with coverage of legal costs.

Said Geothals: "If the San Francisco Superior Court does not translate and impose the law correctly, we will look for 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 with The New York Times in October, he said that before the general public launch of ChatGPT in November 2022, he had helped OpenAI gather and use "massive amounts" of data drawn from the internet without authorization.

According to the claim, in December, Balaji's household hired forensic pathologist Dr. Joseph Cohen to carry out a private autopsy. In his report, Dr. Cohen figured out that there was a single gunshot wound in the mid-forehead, slightly to the right of the bridge of his nose.

Dr. Cohen said that the bullet trajectory was uncommon for a suicide, as it took a trip 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 determined a contusion on the back of Balaji's head, which he said raised further questions about the scenarios of his death.

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

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

Despite Balaji's discoveries, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman pressed back on the New york city Times' claims. Speaking at the paper's yearly DealBook Summit, Altman dismissed the claims.