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The family of Suchir Balaji state he was killed and didn't eliminate himself. Now they have actually taken legal action against San Francisco and its cops 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, alleging that the real reason for his death was not suicide, but murder.

The claim, submitted in January, alleges that the SFPD covered up the criminal offense, ruling it a suicide without carrying out a thorough investigation.

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

"The claim requires that the city, cops department, and medical examiner release public files kept under the Public Records Act," Joseph Goethals, attorney for the petitioners, informed Decrypt. He said that if the documents weren't offered within 10 days, and "no legitimate exceptions use, a claim can force their release. We will seek a court order to obtain them."

The claim claims that SFPD breached 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 insufficient, with authorities neglecting essential forensic findings and failing to address their requests for more inquiry.

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

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

According to the claim, in December, Balaji's family employed forensic pathologist Dr. Joseph Cohen to carry out a personal autopsy. In his report, Dr. Cohen identified that there was a injury in the mid-forehead, slightly to the right of the bridge of his nose.

Dr. Cohen said that the bullet trajectory was uncommon for a suicide, as it traveled downward at a minor left-to-right angle, wiki.vifm.info completely missing out on the brain before lodging in the brainstem, wiki.eqoarevival.com according to the suit. Dr. Cohen determined a contusion on the back of Balaji's head, classicrock.awardspace.biz which he said raised further concerns about the situations of his death.

The San Francisco Police Department did not immediately react to a request for remark by Decrypt.

The claim called out the situations of Bilaji's death. His body was discovered a week after The New York Times pointed out 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 city Times' claims. Speaking at the newspaper's yearly DealBook Summit, Altman dismissed the claims.