'Autopsy Report Indicates Struggle, Head Injury': Suchir Balaji's Mother Rejects Suicide Ruling

Last Updated:January 01, 2025, 14:48 IST

Suchir Balaji's mother has rejected the suicide ruling, citing the second autopsy. She has alleged the autopsy has suggested a head injury and signs of struggle.

Suchir Balaji (Photo: ANI)

The parents of 26-year-old Suchir Balaji, who was found dead at his San Francisco apartment on December 14, 2024, have alleged that the report of a second autopsy of their son indicates “signs of struggle", including a head injury and trauma. Suchir’s mother, Poornima Ramarao, has expressed disbelief at the suicide ruling, citing the absence of a suicide note and the findings of the second autopsy, IANS quoted a report by NDTV.

“We have facts with the second autopsy — head trauma and signs of struggle. This is not a suicide, it’s a murder," Suchir’s mother was quoted as saying.

“There was a struggle, he did not take his life. Now, who and why need to be explored," she said, urging the Indian government to support their cause.

His father, Balaji Ramamurthi, recounted their last conversation on December 22, when Suchir returned from a trip to Los Angeles in good spirits.

“He seemed happy," he said.

Asked if Suchir picked up another job, his mother responded, “No, he didn’t. They (OpenAI) probably threatened him. They didn’t allow him to work somewhere else. He also consulted a copyright attorney and figured out that he was not doing anything wrong and they were just suppressing him. That made him give the New York Times interview and resulted in his death."

She also mentioned that Suchir was working on personal research which he wanted to get published, in which he explains that “modulated answer is not exactly as the information pegged to ChatGPT, giving an example of a black and white cat coming out as a coloured cat."

“Additionally, the work of artists and journalists were all stolen, which is unethical. This is what we talked about the last time I met him," she mentioned.

“He was working in the core group of the ChatGPT. He was kind of an architect of the whole thing. He knew a lot about ChatGPT. There were some restrictions on him to not work in other AI companies," Suchir’s father was quoted as saying.

Suchir was a researcher at OpenAI and had made headlines for his whistleblowing revelations about the ethical concerns surrounding generative AI.

His parents are now demanding a probe by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in connection with his death.

A postmortem report in the case had earlier suggested that Suchir had died of suicide.

However, pressing for their demands for a proper investigation of the case, Suchir’s mother had earlier tagged Elon Musk in a social media post. Later, Musk backed the allegation of foul play in Suchir’s death.

“This doesn’t seem like a suicide," Musk had written in response to her post.

In her X post, Suchir’s mother had raised concerns about the investigation conducted by the San Francisco Police Department, which ruled her son’s death a suicide.

Suchir had worked at OpenAI for nearly four years before resigning over ethical concerns. He was a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley, and was a prominent figure in the tech industry, with his whistleblowing revelations sparking global discussions on AI ethics.

In an October post on X, he criticised the misuse of copyrighted materials in generative AI, stating, “Fair use seems like a pretty implausible defence for a lot of generative AI products."

News world 'Autopsy Report Indicates Struggle, Head Injury': Suchir Balaji's Mother Rejects Suicide Ruling