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The family of Suchir Balaji say he was killed and didn't eliminate himself. Now they've taken legal action against San Francisco and its police 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, alleging that the genuine reason for 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 a thorough examination.

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

"The claim demands that the city, authorities department, and medical examiner release public files withheld under the general public Records Act," Joseph Goethals, lawyer for the petitioners, informed 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 look for a court order to obtain them."

The claim claims that SFPD violated the California Public Records Act by 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 disregarding key forensic findings and failing to address their ask for more inquiry.

The claim requires the immediate disclosure of all reports, pictures, and videos, in addition to coverage of legal costs.

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 Times in October, he said that before the general public launch of ChatGPT in November 2022, he had assisted OpenAI collect and utilize "massive amounts" of information taken from the internet without permission.

According to the claim, in December, Balaji's family worked with forensic pathologist Dr. Joseph Cohen to carry out a private autopsy. In his report, Dr. Cohen figured out 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 uncommon for a suicide, as it took a trip downward at a minor left-to-right angle, securityholes.science completely 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 even more questions about the situations of his death.

The San Francisco Police Department did not right away react to a demand for comment by Decrypt.

The claim called out the circumstances of Bilaji's death. His body was found a week after The New york city Times mentioned the whistleblower in a court filing associated 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.