OpenAI, the makers of ChatGPT, have killed my son in order to hide something they want nobody to know, said Poornima Rao, mother of whistleblower and former OpenAI researcher Suchir Balaji. He had documents against them and what they are up to, she said in her latest tirade against the tech giant.
In an explosive interview to American commentator Tucker Carlson, Ms Rao made some stunning claims and serious charges over her son's death and the opacity and secrecy in the world of Artificial Intelligence.
Suchir Balaji was found dead in his San Francisco apartment in November, shortly after he had turned a whistleblower against AI-giant OpenAI. He had publicly raised ethical concerns about the ChatGPT maker's practices before his death. After an initial investigation, authorities had concluded that his death was an act of suicide. However, his family has since called for an FBI investigation, highlighting several lapses and alleging that Balaji was murdered.
In the interview, Ms Rao recalled that the San Francisco Office of the Chief Medical Examiner had declared that her son died by suicide. However, when they asked her if she feels he could have killed himself and if he was depressed recently, she told them "My son celebrated his birthday a day before he died. What more do we need to give on account that he was in a happy mood?" She added that he had even received his birthday gift from his father the same day he was later found dead.
Making a grave allegation against OpenAI, Ms Rao said on record that "My son had documents against OpenAI. They attacked him and killed him," adding that "some documents were missing" after his death.
She further accused the ChatGPT maker of hushing up the investigation and any possible witnesses, saying "Everybody is suppressed, nobody is ready to come up and tell the truth. Even the attorneys have been made to say that it is a suicide."
Elon Musk shared Suchir Balaji's mother's interview with Tucker Carlson on his X handle, calling it "Extremely concerning".
Continuing her diatribe against OpenAI, Suchir Balaji's mother accused the authorities of an unconvincing response and a botched up investigation, saying "It took them (authorities) more than 14 minutes to determine the cause of death and tell me that it was a suicide."
She even slammed the police for holding on to information and not being transparent about it. "I knew that my son was dead was by looking at the white van," she said, adding that the cops kept making excuses to delay the information. "In the evening, they returned the keys to me and told me that I could pick up the body tomorrow," she said.
In an earlier post on social media platform X, the mother had said that Suchir Balaji's "apartment was ransacked" and there was apparently a "sign of struggle in the bathroom". She also claimed that there were bloodstains which were found. "Someone hit him in bathroom. There were blood spots," she said, concluding that "It was cold blooded murder declared by authorities as suicide."
Suchir Balaji worked at OpenAI for nearly four years. He resigned in August, 2023 after expressing dissatisfaction with the company's shift to a for-profit model. According to his mother, this shift was a key factor in his decision to leave and turn whistleblower. He had even given an interview to the New York Times raising concerns over the ChatGpt maker.
The San Francisco Police Department has reportedly reopened the case as an "active investigation," but it has not shared further details. Meanwhile, Suchir Balaji's parents have said, "We demand the FBI step in to uncover the truth."
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