The family of Suchir Balaji state he was killed and didn't kill himself. Now they've taken legal action against San Francisco and its authorities department.

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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 real cause of his death was not suicide, however murder.

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

Balaji, who had actually worked as a scientist at OpenAI, was discovered dead in his San Francisco house last November. Attorneys state Balaji's parents, Poornima Ramarao and Balaji Ramamurthy, asked for even more examination into his death but were informed the case was already closed.

"The claim requires that the city, authorities department, and medical examiner release public files kept under the general public Records Act," Joseph Goethals, lawyer for the petitioners, wiki.die-karte-bitte.de 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 keeping public records of the case. Attorneys for Ramarao and Ramamurthy likewise argued that the investigation into their son's death was hurried and inadequate, with officials overlooking essential forensic findings and failing to resolve their requests for more questions.

The claim demands the immediate disclosure of all reports, images, and videos, dokuwiki.stream together with protection of legal expenses.

Said Geothals: "If the San Francisco Superior Court does not analyze and impose the law properly, 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 public launch of ChatGPT in November 2022, he had assisted OpenAI collect and use "enormous amounts" of data drawn from the web without authorization.

According to the claim, in December, Balaji's household worked with forensic pathologist Dr. Joseph Cohen to perform a personal autopsy. In his report, Dr. Cohen determined that there was a single gunshot injury in the mid-forehead, a little 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 slight left-to-right angle, totally missing 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, utahsyardsale.com which he said raised even more questions about the scenarios of his death.

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

The claim called out the circumstances of Bilaji's death. His body was discovered 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 pushed back on the New york city Times' claims. Speaking at the newspaper's annual DealBook Summit, Altman dismissed the claims.