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

The household of Suchir Balaji say he was killed and didn't kill himself. Now they have actually taken legal action against San Francisco and its police department.

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The parents of deceased OpenAI whistleblower Suchir Balaji have taken legal action against the city of San Francisco and the San Francisco Police Department, declaring that the genuine cause of his death was not suicide, however murder.

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

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

"The claim demands that the city, police department, and medical examiner release public documents kept under the general public Records Act," Joseph Goethals, attorney for the petitioners, informed Decrypt. He said that if the documents weren't offered within 10 days, and "no legitimate exceptions apply, a claim can oblige their release. We will seek 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 boy's death was hurried and insufficient, with officials overlooking key forensic findings and failing to resolve their ask for further query.

The claim demands the immediate disclosure of all reports, pictures, and videos, in addition to protection of legal costs.

Said Geothals: "If the San Francisco Superior Court does not interpret 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 general public launch of ChatGPT in November 2022, he had helped OpenAI collect and utilize "huge amounts" of information taken from the internet without authorization.

According to the claim, morphomics.science 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 injury 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 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 further concerns about the situations of his death.

The San Francisco Police Department did not instantly 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 associated to its claim against OpenAI.