The mystery around Open AI whistleblower Suchir Balaji’s sudden death seems to be growing, with his family now coming forward and ruling out a suicide, while asking for a thorough investigation into Balaji’s untimely demise. Meanwhile Tesla billionaire Elon Musk also took to social media to demand an FBI probe in the techie’s death. Suchir had been in the news for some time since coming out as a whistleblower against OpenAI as he was actively preparing to testify on its unethical practices before his sudden death. The case is another in the long list of questionable incidents linked to whistleblowers especially ones that seek to expose the Big Tech companies which maintain a vice like stranglehold over their empires.
Suchir Balaji was a prodigal 26 year old researcher at OpenAI. A computer science student from UC Berkeley, Balaji joined OpenAI in 2020 and contributed to foundational projects of ChatGPT. He had left the organization in August this year and had become a vocal critic of the company’s practices particularly those concerning the ethical use of copyrighted materials to train AI models like ChatGPT. In October this year Balaji had expressed his skepticism about generative AI’s reliance on “fair use” as a legal defense.
He had also appeared on New York Times discussing the same and had authored a blog where he criticised the exploitation of copyrighted materials by AI companies. “Fair use and generative AI is a much broader issue than any one product or company,” he had stated in his blog. Balaji’s criticisms also extended to OpenAI’s data collection practices. In a separate interview with the New York Times, he had labeled the approach of how Open AI collects data as being extremely harmful.
In the ongoing lawsuits against Open AI, the American artificial intelligence (AI) research organisation filed by big publishers including The New York Times, Suchir Balaji’s name was also mentioned as having important documents that highlight Open AI and its partner Microsoft using copyrighted documents which includes using of published articles and write-ups in order to train its AI.
On 26th of this year, Balaji was found dead in his San Francisco apartment. Though the death was ruled as a suicide by the investigative authorities, the links of Suchir in coming out with documents exposing Open AI has shrouded his death in mystery. A large section has expressed concerns over his death, asserting that the young techie would not have committed suicide, indicating foul play.
Elon Musk and Balaji’s family demand investigation
Suchir’s father, Balaji Ramamurthy and mother Ramarao have vehemently disputed the findings so far and have demanded an FBI investigation asserting that there was foul play in the death of their son. His mother said that Suchir’s apartment had been ransacked and there were blood spots in the bathroom indicating that he was hit by someone.
Following the grave revelations, billionaire and soon-to-be-part of US administration, Elon Musk also supported and endorsed Balaji’s family’s assertion ruling out suicide.
The San Francisco Police Department had earlier ruled death of the former Open AI researcher as suicide citing CCTV footage which showed him alone in his apartment. But Suchir Balaji’s family has come out to demand an FBI inquiry saying there was foul play. She also presented evidence to assert that her son’s death was as a clear case of murder.
“Suchir’s apartment was ransacked, there were signs of a struggle in the bathroom, and blood spots indicated someone hit him. It took the medical examiner just 40 seconds to declare it a suicide.” wrote Suchir’s father Poornima Ramarao.
Balaji’s father, Balaji Ramamurthy, echoed these sentiments. Ramamurthy stated that his son was in no stress and had returned recently from a hiking trip. He also mentioned that Suchir had been preparing to testify in legal battles involving OpenAI.
“This is not the behavior of someone considering ending their life,” he added. The absence of a note and his plans to visit his parents in January further fueled their skepticism.
Supporting Suchir Balaji’s claims, Elon Musk replied to Poornima’s tweet where she claimed her son’s death a murder. Adding his weight, Elon Musk wrote, “This doesn’t seem like a suicide.” Musk’s comments have amplified calls for a thorough FBI investigation into the whistleblower’s death. Only time will tell whether his untimely demise will also brushed under the carpet or these calls for an FBI invetisgation will open a pandora’s box into the dark and murky world of the Big Tech.
