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 authorities department.

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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 reason for his death was not suicide, however murder.

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

Balaji, who had actually 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 but were informed the case was already closed.

"The claim requires that the city, authorities department, and medical inspector 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 valid 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 withholding public records of the case. Attorneys for Ramarao and Ramamurthy also argued that the investigation into their child's death was hurried and inadequate, with officials disregarding key forensic findings and sitiosecuador.com failing to address their demands for further inquiry.

The claim requires the immediate disclosure of all reports, pictures, and videos, in addition to coverage of legal expenses.

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 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 public launch of ChatGPT in November 2022, he had actually assisted OpenAI gather and use "massive amounts" of information taken from the internet without permission.

According to the claim, in December, Balaji's family worked with forensic pathologist Dr. Joseph Cohen to carry out a personal autopsy. In his report, garagesale.es Dr. Cohen determined 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 minor left-to-right angle, 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 questions about the situations of his death.

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

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

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