"He would not harm himself." The parents of 26-year-old OpenAI whistleblower Suchir Balaji, who was found dead in his home in San Francisco a month after he went public accusing the company of breaking laws to train ChatGPT, are intensifying their efforts to challenge the official ruling of suicide.
I’m usually skeptical whenever parents say “our kid would never do such a thing” but the article reads like they have a point. Nothing’s substantiated though; I’d like to read more about this.
I don’t normally like indulging in speculation and I certainly can’t speak for anyone else, but suicide is very deep, dark pit of despair. It’s a last resort for end of the rope, no other options, extreme loss.
If I’m in a position like this where my testimony is being used to move forward a case against a giant corporation doing harm to others, I’m hanging on. At least until that’s accomplished. That’s the motivation, that’s the light. To get your voice heard and have an impact. Suicide nullifies that. As does murder … and yeah it sure seems like one party is more invested in not having his voice heard.
So many suicides happening right before a major trial. Wow what a coincidence. Oh look, some even left a note saying they aren’t suicidal. Huh, must be another coincidence. Wouldn’t want to look like a conspiracy theorist.
Even if it was a suicide, sometimes police work can be lazy.
My dad died unexpectedly at the age of 50. They didn’t do an autopsy, they just said it was probably due to smoking or drinking. They didn’t tell us why they thought that. I’m sure that’s it but I don’t actually know what killed him to this day. And honestly, it could have been suicide in my dad’s case. He unexpectedly quit his job earlier that year and was living off the remains of his retirement account. He didn’t have much left when he died.
I will never know.