The late OpenAI researcher and whistleblower Suchir Balaji’s parents want the FBI to investigate the circumstances leading up to the death of their son, found dead in his San Francisco apartment on November 26, 2024. He had been involved with OpenAI’s project WebGPT, which co-founder John Schulman says significantly contributed to the development of ChatGPT.
Although Balaji’s death has been classified by authorities as a suicide, his parents are disputing the investigation. They said that the medical examiner did not take sufficient time to evaluate both Balaji and the scene of his death.
Balaji was found after a welfare check from the police prompted by his mother’s report on a missing person due to failure of contact in three consecutive days. Based on the report by the police, the officers responding and medics did find a “deceased male adult. Preliminary indications are, this was an apparent suicide. Preliminary investigation, no evidence of foul play was seen,” it said.
However, Ramarao said the medical examiner took only 40 seconds to declare the death a suicide. “The reasoning was that he went inside and did not come out, and nobody was with him when he shot himself,” she told . She also said a gun was found near him.
Balaji’s parents mentioned that he did not have any history of mental illness, and no suicide note was found. His father, Balaji Ramamurthy, had spoken to him last on November 22nd, days before his death. In the 15-minute phone call, they spoke of plans for the young man’s birthday in Los Angeles; his father said his son was in good spirits.
While Ramarao described Suchir as a kind-hearted fellow who never spoke ill of anyone, she was anguished: “I do not know how I would have saved my son by teaching him to tell lies. The ethics with which I brought him up took his life today.”
