The family of state he was killed and didn't kill himself. Now they have actually taken legal action against San Francisco and its police department.

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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 cause of his death was not suicide, however murder.

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

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 even more investigation into his death but were told the case was currently closed.

"The claim demands that the city, cops department, and medical examiner release public documents kept under the general public Records Act," Joseph Goethals, lawyer for the petitioners, informed Decrypt. He said that if the documents weren't provided within 10 days, and "no valid exceptions apply, a claim can compel their release. We will seek a court order to obtain them."

The claim claims that SFPD breached the California Public Records Act by unlawfully withholding public records of the case. Attorneys for Ramarao and Ramamurthy likewise argued that the investigation into their kid's death was rushed and insufficient, with authorities disregarding essential forensic findings and failing to address their ask for further questions.

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

Said Geothals: "If the San Francisco Superior Court does not interpret and enforce the law correctly, we will seek option 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 Times in October, he said that before the public launch of ChatGPT in November 2022, he had assisted OpenAI gather and utilize "enormous amounts" of data taken from the web without consent.

According to the claim, in December, Balaji's household hired forensic pathologist Dr. Joseph Cohen to perform a private autopsy. In his report, akropolistravel.com Dr. Cohen identified 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, passfun.awardspace.us 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 fit. Dr. Cohen identified a contusion on the back of Balaji's head, which he said raised further concerns about the scenarios of his death.

The San Francisco Police Department did not immediately react to an ask for comment 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, 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.