The household of Suchir Balaji say he was murdered 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 moms and dads of deceased OpenAI whistleblower Suchir Balaji have actually taken legal action against the city of San Francisco and the San Francisco Police Department, declaring that the real cause of his death was not suicide, but murder.

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

Balaji, who had actually worked as a researcher at OpenAI, systemcheck-wiki.de was found dead in his San Francisco home last November. Attorneys state Balaji’s moms and dads, Poornima Ramarao and Balaji Ramamurthy, requested even more examination into his death however were told the case was already closed.

“The claim requires that the city, authorities department, and medical inspector release public files kept under the general 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 valid exceptions apply, a claim can force 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 of the case. Attorneys for Ramarao and Ramamurthy also argued that the examination into their child’s death was hurried and insufficient, with officials disregarding crucial forensic findings and failing to resolve their ask for more questions.

The claim requires the immediate disclosure of all reports, photos, and videos, along with protection of legal expenses.

Said Geothals: “If the San Francisco Superior Court does not interpret and enforce 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 city Times in October, he said that before the general public launch of ChatGPT in November 2022, he had assisted OpenAI gather and utilize “huge amounts” of information drawn from the internet without approval.

According to the claim, in December, Balaji’s household worked with forensic pathologist Dr. Joseph Cohen to carry out a private autopsy. In his report, Dr. Cohen identified 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 unusual for a suicide, as it traveled downward at a slight left-to-right angle, entirely missing the brain before lodging in the brainstem, according to the fit. Dr. Cohen recognized 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 instantly respond to a request for remark by Decrypt.

The claim called out the situations of Bilaji’s death. His body was found a week after The New york city Times discussed the whistleblower in a court filing associated 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 annual DealBook Summit, Altman dismissed the claims.