New Delhi: 26-year-old Suchir Balaji, a former OpenAI researcher, was found dead in his San Francisco apartment in November 2024. While his death was ruled a suicide, his mother claims he was murdered since he was a key witness in copyright lawsuits against OpenAI.
In an interview with US commentator Tucker Carlson, Poornima Ramarao shared how Balaji had celebrated his birthday the day before his death and how police took 14 minutes to declare it a suicide.
“Everybody is suppressed, nobody is ready to come up and tell the truth,” she said Wednesday, adding that there was evidence of a struggle in the house and unusual activity on Balaji’s devices, emphasising her suspicions of foul play.
On Wednesday, entrepreneur Elon Musk shared the video on X along with the comment “extremely concerning”, drawing interest in Balaji’s death.
Balaji quit OpenAI in August 2024 after 4 years at the company and began speaking out against the company’s use of copyrighted material. Ramarao revealed that he was named a custodian witness by The New York Times and had important documents against the company.
OpenAI is facing multiple lawsuits from NYT, along with other news publishers, authors, and organisations alleging illegal use of copyrighted content to train its software.
In Episode 1589 of #CutTheClutter, Editor-in-Chief Shekhar Gupta traces why Balaji became a key witness against OpenAI & why suspicions are being raised over his death.
Also read: Watch CutTheClutter: China’s weaponisation of trade & the $1 trillion surplus