Sam Altman says whistleblower Suchir Balaji’s death was a “suicide”; Elon Musk reacts: 'He was murdered'

OpenAI founder Sam Altman has publicly spoken about the death of whistleblower Suchir Balaji for the first time.

Former Fox News anchor Tucker Carlson interviewed Altman and started by insisting that Balaji’s death was not a suicide, as ruled by police, but “a murder”.

Carlson brought up Balaji’s prior complaints about OpenAI and charged directly: “You had complaints from one programmer who said you guys were basically stealing people’s stuff and not paying them, and then he wound up murdered. What was that?”

Sam Altman says death of Suchir Balaji was a suicide

Altman replied, "Also a great tragedy. He committed suicide”.

Carlson pressed him, asking, “Do you think he committed suicide?”

“I really do,” Altman said. “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."

Carlson further asked, “Why does it look like suicide?” to which Altman replied, "It was a gun he had purchased".

Carlson, however, asserted, "He was definitely murdered, I think”.

Pointing out “signs of a struggle,” cut surveillance wires, and blood in multiple rooms, the host said: “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 added that Balaji’s mother also 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.

Altman asked the host, “You understand how this sounds like an accusation?”

Despite Carlson’s repeated insistence, the OpenAI CEO stood by the official findings. “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 said.

The tragic case of Suchir Balaji

26-year-old Suchir Balaji was an Indian-origin researcher who worked at OpenAI for four years. He was found dead in his San Francisco apartment in November 2024, just weeks after accusing the company of copyright violations.

Though police investigation revealed the death was a suicide, Balaji’s family has rejected the suicide claim.

“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 a separate interview with Carlson.

xAI CEO Elon Musk reacted to Altman’s interview in a post on X and said, “He was murdered”.

Musk has previously cast doubts on the police ruling the case as suicide and voiced calls for a broader investigation into the matter.

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