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 police department.

Decrypt's Art, Fashion, dokuwiki.stream and Entertainment Hub.

The parents 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 cause of his death was not suicide, but murder.

The claim, filed in January, alleges that the SFPD covered up the criminal activity, ruling it a suicide without performing a thorough investigation.

Balaji, who had worked as a at OpenAI, was found dead in his San Francisco apartment last November. Attorneys say Balaji's moms and dads, Poornima Ramarao and Balaji Ramamurthy, requested even more 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 general public Records Act," Joseph Goethals, lawyer for the petitioners, informed Decrypt. He said that if the documents weren't provided within 10 days, and "no valid exceptions apply, a claim can force their release. We will seek a court order to obtain them."

The claim claims that SFPD violated the California Public Records Act by unlawfully keeping public records of the case. Attorneys for Ramarao and Ramamurthy also 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 inquiry.

The claim requires the instant disclosure of all reports, images, and videos, along with protection of legal costs.

Said Geothals: "If the San Francisco Superior Court does not translate and impose the law correctly, we will look for option 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 general public launch of ChatGPT in November 2022, he had actually assisted OpenAI collect and use "enormous amounts" of information drawn from the internet without permission.

According to the claim, in December, Balaji's household employed forensic pathologist Dr. Joseph Cohen to carry out a personal autopsy. In his report, Dr. Cohen identified 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 unusual for a suicide, as it traveled downward at a small left-to-right angle, completely missing the brain before lodging in the brainstem, according to the match. 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 right away react to an ask for remark by Decrypt.

The claim called out the circumstances 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 revelations, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman pressed back on the New York Times' claims. Speaking at the newspaper's yearly DealBook Summit, Altman dismissed the claims.