OpenAI whistleblower Suchir Balaji, who was found dead in his San Francisco apartment last year, had opposed the conversion of OpenAI into a ‘for-profit’ company, according to his mother. Her recent interview has reignited debate on the matter and drawn a response from billionaire Elon Musk on X.
The Tesla and SpaceX founder reacted to the interview featuring the mother of the 26-year-old Indian-origin techie by sharing the video on X with exclamation marks.
!! https://t.co/PUBf5rUSSc
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 11, 2025
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The whistleblower’s mother revealed in the interview with Mario Nawfal that her son joined OpenAI due to its nonprofit mission, believing in its potential to benefit humanity. However, she said he became troubled when OpenAI shifted to a for-profit model, leading him to question his role at the organisation. “That’s when his concerns started to grow,” she said.
Mother calls for FBI investigation
The 26-year-old whistleblower was found dead in his San Francisco apartment last year. Authorities ruled his death a suicide, with the police stating no evidence of foul play was found. However, the whistleblower’s mother has publicly questioned this conclusion and demanded an FBI investigation into the circumstances of his death.
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Update on @suchirbalaji
We hired private investigator and did second autopsy to throw light on cause of death. Private autopsy doesn’t confirm cause of death stated by police.
Suchir’s apartment was ransacked , sign of struggle in the bathroom and looks like some one hit him…
— Poornima Rao (@RaoPoornima) December 29, 2024
Earlier, Elon Musk supported the claims made by Poornima about her son’s death. In a post on X, Musk reacted to Poornima’s post about her son’s death, where he said, “This doesn’t seem like a suicide.”Suchir had quit OpenAI, citing ethical concerns about contributing to a technology he believed would do more harm than good.
(With inputs from agencies)