According to the San Francisco Police and the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner (OCME), the OpenAI whistleblower, who is 26 years Indian-American Suchir Balaji, has certainly died by suicide. The resolution follows several weeks of research and popular speculation after his death under dubious circumstances last November. Ending their inquiry into his death, authorities, in an official statement on Friday, confirmed their results.

“The OCME found no evidence or information to establish a cause and manner of death for Mr. Balaji other than a suicide by a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head,” read the 13-page medical examiner’s report. In addition, the San Francisco Police Department (SFPD) conducted an independent investigation, asserting there was insufficient evidence to categorize Balaji’s death as a homicide.

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In a 13-page report from the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner (OCME) and a four-page joint response to the lawsuit, the San Francisco Police and medical examiners announced on Friday that the investigation into Balaji’s death was officially closed.

Balaji’s Passing Causes Debates

Balaji’s unexpected passing begged many inquiries, especially given his position as a whistleblower in a suit against OpenAI. One day before he died, Suchir Balaji was named in a legal document as someone being investigated in connection with accusations that OpenAI had used copyrighted materials to develop its AI models.

Notwithstanding the results of the investigation, Balaji’s parents have openly challenged the theory that their son perished in suicide. They go on to claim he was killed, pointing to what they consider investigation mistakes—including the lack of CCTV footage from the residence of Balaji.

Parents Call for Openness in Inquiry

Suchir Balaji’s mother, Poornima Rao, slammed the San Francisco Police Department for inaccuracy in their reports and failure to recover vital CCTV footage. “They have never gotten leasing office CCTV material. From the police, we require a statement. On X (formerly Twitter), she said we are just asking for an open inquiry.

After four years, Balaji left OpenAI, supposedly concerned about the use of copyrighted material without permission by the AI company to train its chatbot. His passing and the argument it has provoked show more general issues about corporate policies and the results of whistleblowing.