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The family of Suchir Balaji say he was murdered and didn't kill himself. Now they have actually taken legal action against San Francisco and its police department.

Decrypt's Art, Fashion, and Entertainment Hub.

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

The claim, submitted in January, alleges that the SFPD covered the criminal activity, ruling it a suicide without conducting an extensive examination.

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

"The claim demands that the city, authorities department, and medical examiner release public files kept under the Public Records Act," Joseph Goethals, lawyer for the petitioners, told Decrypt. He said that if the files weren't offered within 10 days, and "no valid exceptions use, 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 public records of the case. Attorneys for Ramarao and Ramamurthy likewise argued that the examination into their child's death was rushed and inadequate, with officials overlooking key forensic findings and failing to resolve their ask for further query.

The claim requires the instant disclosure of all reports, images, and videos, together with coverage of legal expenses.

Said Geothals: "If the San Francisco Superior Court does not translate and enforce the law properly, 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 Times in October, accc.rcec.sinica.edu.tw he said that before the public launch of ChatGPT in November 2022, he had assisted OpenAI gather and use "huge amounts" of data taken 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 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 uncommon for a suicide, as it took a trip downward at a slight left-to-right angle, entirely out on the brain before lodging in the brainstem, according to the fit. Dr. Cohen identified a contusion on the back of Balaji's head, which he said raised further questions about the scenarios of his death.

The San Francisco Police Department did not instantly react to an ask for remark by Decrypt.

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