OpenAI whistleblower dies by suicide in San Francisco, police say

San Francisco police found Open AI whistleblower Suchir Balaji, 26, dead in his Lower Haight apartment Nov. 26, SiliconValley.com reported on Friday. Police said there is “no evidence of foul play.”

“The manner of death has been determined to be suicide,” David Serrano Sewell, director of the office of the city’s chief medical examiner, told The Standard by email.

Balaji, a former researcher for the company, accused OpenAI of using copyrighted material to train ChatGPT shortly after he quit the company in August. The New York Times profiled Balaji in a story focused on his whistleblowing in October.

Multiple lawsuits against Open AI are expected to present information Balaji unearthed as key evidence.

Officers went to Balaji’s at 1:15 p.m. on Nov. 26 for a wellness check, SFPD confirmed to The Standard.

“Officers and medics arrived on scene and located a deceased adult male from what appeared to be a suicide,” SFPD said. “No evidence of foul play was found during the initial investigation.”