The family of Suchir Balaji state he was murdered and didn't kill 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 deceased OpenAI whistleblower Suchir Balaji have actually taken against the city of San Francisco and the San Francisco Police Department, alleging that the genuine reason for his death was not suicide, but murder.

The claim, submitted in January, declares that the SFPD covered up the criminal activity, ruling it a suicide without conducting a comprehensive investigation.

Balaji, who had worked as a researcher at OpenAI, was found dead in his San Francisco apartment or condo last November. Attorneys say Balaji's moms and dads, Poornima Ramarao and Balaji Ramamurthy, asked for further investigation into his death but were informed the case was currently closed.

"The claim demands that the city, police department, and medical inspector release public files withheld under the Public Records Act," Joseph Goethals, lawyer for the petitioners, told Decrypt. He said that if the files weren't supplied within 10 days, and "no valid exceptions apply, a claim can force 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 likewise argued that the examination into their son's death was hurried and inadequate, with officials disregarding key forensic findings and failing to address their requests for accc.rcec.sinica.edu.tw more inquiry.

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

Said Geothals: "If the San Francisco Superior Court does not interpret 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 interview with The New York Times in October, he said that before the general public launch of ChatGPT in November 2022, he had assisted OpenAI gather and utilize "enormous amounts" of information taken from the internet without approval.

According to the claim, in December, Balaji's household hired forensic pathologist Dr. Joseph Cohen to perform a personal autopsy. In his report, macphersonwiki.mywikis.wiki Dr. Cohen identified that there was a single gunshot injury 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 took a trip downward at a minor left-to-right angle, completely missing the brain before lodging in the brainstem, according to the fit. Dr. Cohen determined a contusion on the back of Balaji's head, which he said raised further questions about the circumstances of his death.

The San Francisco Police Department did not right away respond to an ask for comment by Decrypt.

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

Despite Balaji's discoveries, 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.