OpenAI founder Sam Altman has, for the first time, publicly addressed the death of whistleblower Suchir Balaji, a case that has sparked significant controversy.
Altman’s comments came during a high-tension interview with former Fox News anchor Tucker Carlson, who has claimed that Balaji’s death was “a murder” rather than the suicide ruled by police.
Early in their conversation, Carlson brought up Balaji's past grievances against OpenAI. "You had one programmer complain that you guys were essentially stealing people's work and not compensating them, and then he ended up murdered. What was that?" he said.
Altman replied, "Also a terrible tragedy. He took his own life." Carlson pressed on, asking, "Do you think he took his own life?
“I really do,” Altman said, adding, “He was like a friend of mine. This is like a guy that, not a close friend, but this is someone that worked at Open AI for a very long time. I was really shaken by this tragedy. I spent a lot of time trying to, you know, read everything I could as I'm sure you and others did too about what happened. It looks like a suicide to me."
When Carlson asked why it seemed like a suicide, Altman replied, "It was a gun he had bought."
Carlson, however, asserted, "He was definitely murdered, I think”. He also pointed to “signs of a struggle,” cut surveillance wires, and blood in multiple rooms. “He had just ordered takeout food, come back from a vacation with his friends on Catalina Island. No indication at all that he was suicidal," he said. Carlson also noted that Balaji’s mother claims her son was murdered.
“I haven’t done too many interviews where I’ve been accused of murder,” Altman replied.
Carlson continued to question how a suicide could involve “signs of a struggle and blood in two rooms”. “I don’t understand how the authorities could just kind of dismiss that as a suicide. I think it’s weird,” Carlson said, further pressing Altman.
Altman then replied sharply: “You understand how this sounds like an accusation?”
In spite of Carlson's insistence, however, Altman remained with the official conclusion. "I spent a lot of time trying to read everything I could, as I’m sure you and others did too, about what happened," he stated.
Suchir Balaji, an Indian-origin researcher who spent four years at OpenAI, was discovered dead in his San Francisco apartment in November 2024, shortly after alleging copyright violations by the company. Police ruled the death a suicide, but Balaji’s family has questioned the investigation and rejected that conclusion.
"Everybody is suppressed. Nobody is ready to come up and tell the truth. Even the attorneys have been made to tell that it is a suicide," Balaji's mother, Poornima Ramarao, said in an exclusive interview to Carlson.
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