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

Decrypt's Art, Fashion, and Entertainment Hub.

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 real reason for his death was not suicide, however murder.

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

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

"The claim demands that the city, cops 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 supplied within 10 days, and "no valid exceptions apply, a claim can force their release. We will look for a court order to obtain them."

The claim claims that SFPD violated the California Public Records Act by unlawfully withholding public records of the case. Attorneys for Ramarao and Ramamurthy also argued that the examination into their boy's death was hurried and inadequate, with officials overlooking crucial forensic findings and failing to resolve their demands for more questions.

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

Said Geothals: "If the San Francisco Superior Court does not interpret and impose the law correctly, we will seek 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 city Times in October, he said that before the general public launch of ChatGPT in November 2022, kenpoguy.com he had actually helped OpenAI collect and use "huge amounts" of information taken from the internet without authorization.

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 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 traveled downward at a minor left-to-right angle, totally missing out on the brain before lodging in the brainstem, according to the suit. Dr. Cohen determined a contusion on the back of Balaji's head, which he said raised further concerns 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 situations of Bilaji's death. His body was found a week after The New York Times discussed the whistleblower in a court filing associated to its claim against OpenAI.

Despite Balaji's revelations, Sam Altman pressed back on the New york city Times' claims. Speaking at the paper's yearly DealBook Summit, Altman dismissed the claims.