The household of Suchir Balaji state he was murdered and didn't kill himself. Now they've taken legal action against San Francisco and its police 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 genuine cause of his death was not suicide, however murder.

The claim, filed in January, declares that the SFPD covered the criminal offense, ruling it a suicide without performing an extensive examination.

Balaji, who had actually worked as a researcher at OpenAI, was discovered dead in his San Francisco apartment or condo last November. Attorneys say Balaji's moms and dads, Poornima Ramarao and Balaji Ramamurthy, requested even more investigation into his death however were informed the case was currently closed.

"The claim demands that the city, cops department, and medical inspector release public documents withheld 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 use, a claim can compel their release. We will seek 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 mariskamast.net Ramarao and Ramamurthy likewise argued that the investigation into their boy's death was rushed and inadequate, with authorities neglecting essential forensic findings and failing to resolve their demands for additional inquiry.

The claim demands the instant disclosure of all reports, photos, and videos, wiki.myamens.com together with coverage of legal costs.

Said Geothals: "If the San Francisco Superior Court does not interpret and impose the law properly, we will look for 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 public launch of ChatGPT in November 2022, he had helped OpenAI gather and use "massive quantities" of data drawn from the internet without consent.

According to the claim, in December, Balaji's family hired forensic pathologist Dr. Joseph Cohen to carry out a personal autopsy. In his report, Dr. Cohen figured out 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 traveled downward at a minor left-to-right angle, entirely missing the brain before lodging in the brainstem, according to the match. Dr. Cohen identified a contusion on the back of Balaji's head, which he said raised further concerns about the scenarios of his death.

The San Francisco Police Department did not right away react to a request for comment by Decrypt.

The claim called out the situations of Bilaji's death. His body was found a week after The New York Times mentioned the whistleblower in a court filing associated 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.