Image by ishmael daro, from Flickr

OpenAI Whistleblower’s Death Sparks Controversy: Family Demands Answers As Police Probe Nears End

Reading time: 3 min

Updated on Feb 11, 2025

Written by Kiara Fabbri Multimedia Journalist
Fact-Checked by Justyn Newman Lead Cybersecurity Editor

The death of former OpenAI researcher and whistleblower Suchir Balaji continues to stir controversy, with his family pushing for transparency as the San Francisco Police Department (SFPD) prepares to release its final report by the end of February.

In a Rush? Here are the Quick Facts!

His family disputes the suicide ruling, citing anomalies in an independent autopsy.
Balaji had accused OpenAI of copyright violations, becoming a key witness in a lawsuit.
The SFPD investigation remains open, with a final report expected by end of February.

Balaji, a 26-year-old software engineer who publicly criticized OpenAI’s alleged copyright violations, was found dead in his Hayes Valley apartment on November 26, 2023. Authorities initially ruled his death a suicide, but his family and independent experts have raised serious doubts.

Balaji’s parents, Poornima Ramarao and Balaji Ramamurthy, have been vocal in their quest for answers, as reported in a detailed article by Fortune. On January 31, they filed a lawsuit against the SFPD, demanding the release of the full investigative report into their son’s death.

Ramarao has also taken her concerns public, appearing on The Tucker Carlson Show in January and launching a social media campaign that has garnered millions of views.

Her posts, which claim her son was “murdered,” have drawn attention from high-profile figures,

including Elon Musk, who tweeted, “This doesn’t seem like a suicide.”

This doesn’t seem like a suicide

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 29, 2024

The SFPD has maintained that no evidence of foul play was found during the initial investigation, as stated in a February 7 update. However, the case remains open, and the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner (OCME) has declined to comment, as reported by Fortune.

Meanwhile, an independent autopsy conducted by forensic pathologist Dr. Joseph Cohen in December revealed anomalies, including an “atypical” bullet trajectory and a contusion on the back of Balaji’s head, raising questions about the suicide ruling, as reported by Fortune.

Balaji, a former OpenAI researcher who helped develop the GPT-4 model, had become a whistleblower months before his death. In October 2023, he publicly accused OpenAI of copyright violations, sparking a landmark lawsuit by The New York Times.

His death has fueled widespread speculation and conspiracy theories, particularly within the tech community, where concerns about AI ethics and corporate power run high.

As the SFPD’s final report looms, Balaji’s family and friends remain in limbo. “We will take this to the public,” Ramarao told Fortune. “We will be taking it everywhere. We will even send it to President Trump.”

For now, the world waits for answers, hoping the February report will bring clarity to a tragedy that has become a flashpoint in the debate over AI’s future.