OpenAI Whistleblower's Mother Tells Tucker Carlson Her Son Was Murdered

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The mother of OpenAI whistleblower Suchir Balaji told Tucker Carlson she believes her son was murdered.

Newsweek contacted OpenAI and the San Francisco Police Department via email for comment. OpenAI has said the company has had no interaction with Balaji since December 2023, almost a year before his death, and that they respected his "right to share views freely."

Why It Matters

OpenAI is one of the biggest players in the artificial intelligence industry but has faced criticism for how it trains its flagship product, ChatGPT. The company faces allegations from Balaji, a former engineer at OpenAI, that it uses copyrighted content and data to train the AI model in a way that breaks the law.

What to Know

Balaji was found dead on November 26, 2024, after voicing concerns about how OpenAI was training artificial intelligence language models. The death, caused by a gunshot to the head, was ruled a suicide by San Francisco authorities, but his family has maintained he did not take his own life.

Speaking on The Tucker Carlson Show on Wednesday, Balaji's mother, Poornima Ramarao, revealed the results of a private investigation she hired to look into her son's death, claiming that authorities "just ignored everything that showed murder and picked up everything that showed suicide."

Ramarao said the private autopsy she had conducted by Dr. Joseph Cohen indicated that the bullet wound in Balaji's head had missed the brain and another injury on the other side of the head indicated signs of a struggle, implying the presence of an attacker.

"It's a homicide, obviously," Ramarao told Carlson. "We have enough reasons to believe that coming from the private autopsy; it's not a suicide at all.

"The bullet angle is going downward about 30 to 45 degrees, and it missed the brain."

Ramarao also wants a federal investigation into the death, a call which was backed by California Congressman Ro Khanna.

During a January hearing on the New York Times lawsuit against OpenAI, which alleges that the company used copyrighted content from the outlet's articles to train ChatGPT, attorneys representing OpenAI said that the data used fell under free use, as the language does not technically store copyrighted content.

Attorney Joe Gratz said in the defense: "If I say to you, 'Yesterday all my troubles seemed so,' we will all think to ourselves [think] "far away" because we have been exposed to that text so many times.

"That doesn't mean you have a copy of that song somewhere in your brain."

What People Are Saying

OpenAI, in a statement published after Balaji's death, said: "We were devastated to learn of this tragic news and have been in touch with Suchir's family to offer our full support during this difficult time. Our priority is to continue to do everything we can to assist them."

"We first became aware of his concerns when The New York Times published his comments and we have no record of any further interaction with him. We respect his, and others', right to share views freely."

The San Francisco Office of the Chief Medical Examiner said in a statement: "The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner (OCME) has identified the decedent as Suchir Balaji, 26, of San Francisco. The manner of death has been determined to be suicide. The OCME has notified the next-of-kin and has no further comment or reports for publication at this time."

Ro Khanna posted in a reply to Ramarao on social media: "I am heartbroken by your loss. Given your very serious concerns about foul play, I do believe that there should be a full and transparent investigation into the death by the FBI or appropriate agency."