ChatGate maker OpenAI on Friday reacted to the death of whistleblower Suchir Balaji, saying he was a “valued member” of their team. The statement from the Sam Altman-led company comes days after the mother of Mr. Balaji — who was found dead in his San Francisco apartment in November — criticized OpenAI and blamed it for her son’s death.
“Suchir was a valued member of our team and we are still saddened by his passing. We feel his loss deeply. We have contacted the San Francisco Police Department and offered our assistance if needed. “Law enforcement has the authority to address this situation, and we trust them to continue to share updates as needed,” OpenAI said in a statement.
It added that “out of respect” they would not be commenting further on the issue.
Mr Balaji, who died in November, had turned whistleblower against OpenAI. He had publicly raised ethical concerns about the AI giant’s practices.
Preliminary investigation concluded that Sri Balaji’s death was an act of suicide. However, since then, his family has called for an FBI investigation. He also highlighted several lapses and alleged that Mr Balaji had been murdered. Subsequently, the San Francisco Police Department reopened the case as an “active investigation”, but did not share any further details.
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Suchir Balaji’s mother’s claim
Earlier this week, Mr Balaji’s mother Purnima Rao alleged that OpenAI killed her son “to hide something that they want no one to know about”. According to him, Mr. Balaji had documents against the ChatGPT creator and knew what they were doing.
In an interview with American commentator Tucker Carlson, Ms Rao said, “My son had documents against OpenAI. They attacked him and killed him. Some documents were also missing after his death…My son He celebrated his birthday the day before he died, what more do we need than the fact that he was in a happy mood?”
He also accused OpenAI of suppressing the investigation and potential witnesses.
“Everyone is suppressed, no one is willing to come forward and tell the truth. Even lawyers have been forced to say that it is suicide,” he said.
In another interview with an influencer on X, Ms Rao accused OpenAI of failing to recognize her son’s contributions to their flagship product, ChatGPT. But what was troubling him was that his work did not receive any recognition until his death. Even now, there has been no acknowledgment of his contribution from OpenAI. It’s very unfortunate,” he told X user Mario Nawfal.
Mr. Balaji worked at OpenAI for about four years before resigning in 2023. In his resignation, Mr Balaji had expressed dissatisfaction over the change in the company’s profit-based model.
