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.

Decrypt's Art, Fashion, and Entertainment Hub.

The parents of deceased OpenAI whistleblower Suchir Balaji have actually taken legal action against the city of San Francisco and lovewiki.faith the San Francisco Police Department, declaring that the real reason for his death was not suicide, however murder.

The claim, submitted in January, declares that the SFPD concealed the criminal activity, ruling it a suicide without performing a comprehensive examination.

Balaji, who had actually worked as a researcher at OpenAI, was discovered dead in his San Francisco house last November. Attorneys state Balaji's moms and dads, Poornima Ramarao and Balaji Ramamurthy, asked for further examination into his death however were told the case was currently closed.

"The claim demands that the city, cops department, and medical examiner release public documents kept under the Public Records Act," Joseph Goethals, attorney for the petitioners, told Decrypt. He said that if the files weren't provided within 10 days, and "no legitimate exceptions apply, a claim can compel their release. We will look for a court order to obtain them."

The claim claims that SFPD broke 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 rushed and insufficient, with officials disregarding essential forensic findings and failing to resolve their demands for additional inquiry.

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

Said Geothals: "If the San Francisco Superior Court does not analyze 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 Times in October, he said that before the general public launch of ChatGPT in November 2022, he had actually helped OpenAI gather and use "enormous amounts" of data taken from the web without authorization.

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 determined that there was a single gunshot wound in the mid-forehead, somewhat 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, completely missing out on the brain before lodging in the brainstem, according to the fit. Dr. Cohen identified a contusion on the back of Balaji's head, which he said raised even more questions about the situations of his death.

The San Francisco Police Department did not right away react to a request 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 discoveries, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman pressed back on the New York Times' claims. Speaking at the paper's annual DealBook Summit, Altman dismissed the claims.