The household of Suchir Balaji say he was killed and didn't kill himself. Now they have actually taken against San Francisco and its cops 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 reason for his death was not suicide, however murder.

The claim, filed in January, alleges that the SFPD covered the criminal offense, sitiosecuador.com ruling it a suicide without performing a comprehensive examination.

Balaji, who had actually worked as a scientist at OpenAI, was found dead in his San Francisco apartment or condo last November. Attorneys state Balaji's parents, Poornima Ramarao and Balaji Ramamurthy, asked for further examination into his death but were told the case was already closed.

"The claim demands that the city, cops department, and medical examiner release public documents withheld under the general public Records Act," Joseph Goethals, attorney for the petitioners, told Decrypt. He said that if the documents weren't offered within 10 days, townshipmarket.co.za and "no valid exceptions apply, a claim can oblige 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 kid's death was hurried and insufficient, with officials overlooking essential forensic findings and failing to resolve their ask for further inquiry.

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

Said Geothals: "If the San Francisco Superior Court does not analyze and impose the law properly, we will seek recourse 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 collect and use "enormous quantities" of information drawn from the internet without consent.

According to the claim, in December, Balaji's household employed forensic pathologist Dr. Joseph Cohen to perform a private autopsy. In his report, Dr. Cohen identified that there was a single gunshot wound 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 small left-to-right angle, totally missing the brain before lodging in the brainstem, historydb.date according to the fit. Dr. Cohen identified a contusion on the back of Balaji's head, which he said raised further questions about the situations 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 city Times pointed out the whistleblower in a court filing related to its claim against OpenAI.

Despite Balaji's discoveries, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman pushed back on the New york city Times' claims. Speaking at the newspaper's yearly DealBook Summit, Altman dismissed the claims.