'Doesn't Seem Like Suicide': Elon Musk Reacts to OpenAI Whistleblower Suchir Balaji's Mother's Plea

San Francisco: Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk has responded to the plea made by the mother of OpenAi Whistleblower Suchir Balaji saying that, “This doesn't seems a suicide”, in which she called for an FBI investigation following her son's death. Balaji accused the AI gaint of copyright violations, and he was found dead a month after the allegations surfaced.

Balaji, a 26-year-old whistleblower and researcher, was discovered deceased in his San Francisco apartment on November 26. Authorities initially ruled his death a suicide.

In a post on X (formerly Twitter) on Sunday, his mother, Poornima Ramarao, revealed that they had hired a private investigator and conducted a second autopsy to further investigate the cause of death. According to Ramarao, the private autopsy did not confirm the police's conclusion.

She also claimed that Balaji's apartment, located on Buchanan Street, had been 'ransacked' prior to his death.

"There was a sign of struggle in the bathroom and it looks like someone hit him in the bathroom based on blood spots," she said.

"It's a cold-blooded murder declared by authorities as suicide. Lobbying in SF city doesn't stop us from getting justice," she added while demanding a probe by FBI.

In her post, she tagged billionaire Elon Musk and Indian-American tech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, both of whom will join the incoming Donald Trump administration and are key ally of president-elect.

Mr. Musk, known for his ongoing feud with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, replied to her post, stating, “This doesn't seem like a suicide.”

According to media reports, Mr. Balaji's father, Balaji Ramamurthy, speaking at a vigil held for his son in Milpitas, California, revealed that he was the last person to talk to him on November 22. During their 15-minute call, they discussed his trip to Los Angeles, which was part of his birthday celebration.

"He was in LA and having a good time. So he sent us all the pictures," Mr. Ramamurthy told The Guardian. "He was in a good mood."

What Suchir Balaji Said About OpenAI

Suchir Balaji had accused OpenAI of training its AI models on copyrighted material scraped from the internet without proper authorization, a practice he argued was detrimental.

"If you believe what I believe, you have to just leave the company," Mr. Balaji said in an interview with The New York Times earlier this year.

The Indian-origin tech professional resigned from OpenAI in October 2023 after nearly four years with the company. During his tenure, he played a significant role in data collection for OpenAI's flagship product, ChatGPT.

On his personal website, Mr. Balaji elaborated on his concerns, claiming that OpenAI's method of copying data for training its models potentially amounted to copyright infringement.