Poornima Rao, the mother of the former OpenAI researcher Suchir Balaji, has denied the authorities’ claim categorizing his death as suicide. Suchir, a researcher at OpenAI who participated in the ChatGPT project and other AI projects, was discovered dead in his San Francisco residence. Despite the police ruling, his mother, with the help of findings from private investigators, believes otherwise.
The investigation conducted by the San Francisco Police confirmed that Suchir committed suicide. But as Poornima explained, there are signs of a fight and some contradictions for the tragedy to have happened at the scene. Notably, his apartment was in a state of burglary, and there were blood stains across the bathroom that had no apparent cause. The failure to produce a suicide note is even more baffling.
Confident about doing a different search to ascertain the truth, Poornima engaged private detectives. They contradicted the suicide verdict, pointing out the signs of a possible fight in Suchir’s apartment. A private investigation conducted showed bleeding centers and separate blood spots, which indicated a physical attack over suicide.
Poornima has called for a more thorough examination of the case in response to these troubling discoveries. She pointed out that surveillance footage from the apartment building was incomplete, covering only one of three entrances, with the other two lacking surveillance. This gap in security footage raises questions about unauthorized access to Suchir’s apartment that might not have been detected.
Instead, Poornima’s fears are outside the scope of the investigation. She has expressed concerns about the autonomy of the tech industry in San Francisco and its effect on the intensity of police investigations. Her deep loss is made worse by her belief that local police might be corrupt, which led her to end the investigation prematurely into her son’s fate.
The case has gone viral beyond the family, and other important personalities, such as tech mogul Elon Musk, shared the family’s sentiment about the mishandling of the investigation. Poornima’s appeal for justice is for her dead son and demands greater accountability and transparency in the investigation processes involving tech industry personalities.
Suchir's AI work received much appreciation, and its constant evolution put forward significant prospects of changes in certain fields, including healthcare, with his project known as “Future Doctor.” Besides losing a beloved family member and a friend, crucial technological achievements in improved public utility could have been lost.