‘Sign of struggle’: Mother seeks FBI probe into Suchir Balaji’s death, Musk responds

The mother of OpenAI whistleblower Suchir Balaji, who was found dead in November in a case dismissed as suicide, has sought an FBI probe into his death saying his apartment was “ransacked” and “there was a sign of struggle in the bathroom”.

She received support from tech mogul Elon Musk whom she tagged in the post.

Also read: Not a ‘normal situation’, Suchir Balaji’s mother says on ‘suicide’: Report

Family opposes suicide ruling

Suchir, 26, a researcher and former employee at ChatGPT-parent OpenAI, was found dead in his San Francisco apartment in California on November 26, a month after he accused the company of violating copyright laws.

While police have ruled his death as a suicide, his mother, Poornima Ramarao, said they hired a private investigator and got a second autopsy done to throw light on the cause of death. The private autopsy “doesn’t confirm” the cause of death stated by police, she said in a post on X on Sunday (December 29).

Mother’s post

Poornima also alleged that Suchir’s apartment on Buchanan Street was “ransacked”.

“There was a sign of struggle in the bathroom and it looks like someone hit him in the bathroom based on blood spots,” she wrote in the post.

“It’s a cold-blooded murder declared by authorities as suicide. Lobbying in SF city doesn’t stop us from getting justices (sic),” Poornima added before demanding an FBI probe.

In her post, she tagged Musk and Indian-American tech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, who are all set to be a part of the Donald Trump administration.

Also watch: Mystery shrouds death of Indian-American Suchir Balaji, OpenAI whistleblower

Musk’s response

“This doesn’t seem like a suicide,” said Musk, who has an old feud with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman.

Suchir’s father, Balaji Ramamurthy, said at a vigil held for him in Milpitas, California, that he was the last person to talk to Suchir on November 22. According to media reports, he said they talked about his Los Angeles trip as part of his birthday celebration during the 15-minute call.

“He was in LA and having a good time. So, he sent us all the pictures,” Guardian quoted Ramamurthy as saying. “He was in a good mood,” he added. His parents have suggested that Suchir showed no signs of distress that could prompt him to take his life.

Also read: Suchir Balaji, OpenAI whistleblower, found dead in San Francisco

The dispute

Suchir, who had contributed to data collection for OpenAI’s flagship product, ChatGPT, had raised concerns that the company’s AI models might have been trained on copyrighted material lifted from the internet without authorisation.

He quit in October after spending nearly four years with the company. OpenAI has, however, disputed his claims, insisting that they adhered to fair use policies.