1 Parents Of Dead OpenAI Whistleblower Sue San Francisco, Alleging Murder Cover-Up
Anja Grossman edited this page 2025-02-11 01:52:05 +00:00


The family of Suchir Balaji say he was killed and didn't eliminate himself. Now they've taken legal action against San Francisco and its cops department.

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

The claim, filed in January, alleges that the SFPD concealed the criminal offense, ruling it a suicide without conducting a thorough examination.

Balaji, who had worked as a researcher at OpenAI, was discovered dead in his San Francisco apartment last November. Attorneys say Balaji's parents, Poornima Ramarao and Balaji Ramamurthy, asked for even more examination into his death however were told the case was already closed.

"The claim demands that the city, police department, and medical inspector release public documents 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 legitimate 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 child's death was rushed and insufficient, with authorities disregarding crucial forensic findings and failing to resolve their ask for additional inquiry.

The claim requires the immediate disclosure of all reports, pictures, and videos, along with protection of legal expenses.

Said Geothals: "If the San Francisco Superior Court does not analyze and impose 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, he said that before the public launch of ChatGPT in November 2022, he had assisted OpenAI collect and utilize "huge quantities" of data drawn from the web without authorization.

According to the claim, in December, Balaji's household employed forensic pathologist Dr. Joseph Cohen to carry out a private autopsy. In his report, wiki.fablabbcn.org Dr. Cohen determined 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, wiki.myamens.com as it took a trip downward at a small left-to-right angle, completely missing 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 further about the scenarios of his death.

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

The claim called out the situations of Bilaji's death. His body was discovered a week after The New York Times discussed the whistleblower in a court filing associated to its claim against OpenAI.

Despite Balaji's revelations, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman pressed back on the New York Times' claims. Speaking at the paper's annual DealBook Summit, Altman dismissed the claims.