The tragic death of Suchir Balaji, a former OpenAI employee and whistleblower, has sparked controversy, with his mother, Poornima Ramarao, calling for an FBI investigation. Balaji, 26, was found dead in his San Francisco apartment on November 26, 2023, in what authorities initially ruled as a suicide. However, new evidence presented by a private investigator hired by his family has raised questions about the cause of his death.
Ms. Ramarao revealed in a post on X (formerly Twitter) that a private autopsy conducted by the family did not confirm the police’s conclusion of suicide. She further alleged that Balaji’s Buchanan Street apartment appeared “ransacked” and bore signs of a struggle, with blood spots discovered in the bathroom. “There was a sign of struggle… It looks like someone hit him in the bathroom,” she claimed.
Update on @suchirbalaji
We hired private investigator and did second autopsy to throw light on cause of death. Private autopsy doesn’t confirm cause of death stated by police.
Suchir’s apartment was ransacked , sign of struggle in the bathroom and looks like some one hit him…
— Poornima Rao (@RaoPoornima) December 29, 2024
Calling the incident a “cold-blooded murder,” Ms. Ramarao accused local authorities of dismissing the evidence and demanded an FBI investigation. She tagged high-profile figures, including Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, in her post, seeking their support. Musk responded, stating, “This doesn’t seem like a suicide.”
Balaji’s father, Balaji Ramamurthy, shared emotional details of his last conversation with his son during a vigil in Milpitas, California. He recounted a 15-minute call on November 22, where Balaji seemed happy and spoke about his trip to Los Angeles for his birthday celebration. “He was in a good mood and sent us pictures from his trip,” Mr. Ramamurthy told the Guardian.
Balaji, who had spent nearly four years at OpenAI, resigned in October 2023, citing ethical concerns about the company’s AI practices. He alleged that OpenAI’s AI models were trained using copyrighted material scraped from the internet without authorization, potentially violating copyright laws.
In an interview with The New York Times earlier this year, Balaji stated, “If you believe what I believe, you have to just leave the company.” He elaborated on his personal website that while generative models rarely reproduce identical outputs, the process of training on copyrighted material could infringe on intellectual property laws.
OpenAI has refuted Balaji’s claims, asserting that their data usage complies with fair use and legal precedents. “We build our AI models using publicly available data, in a manner protected by fair use… This principle is critical for US competitiveness,” the company stated.
Balaji’s departure and his whistleblowing actions have added to ongoing debates about ethical AI development and data use. His criticisms gained traction after the release of ChatGPT in 2022, which he argued had adverse implications for the internet ecosystem.
As the family pushes for an FBI investigation, the tech community and Balaji’s supporters have rallied for transparency and accountability. The circumstances surrounding his death continue to raise alarm, prompting broader discussions about workplace ethics and whistleblower protections in the tech industry.
