Elon Musk responds to interview with OpenAI whistleblower’s mother

OpenAI whistleblower Suchir Balaji, whose body was found in his San Francisco apartment last year, opposed OpenAI’s transformation into a for-profit company, according to his mother. Her recent interview reignited the debate on the topic and prompted a response from billionaire Elon Musk on X.

The founders of Tesla and SpaceX reacted to the interview with the mother of the 26-year-old Indian-origin technician by sharing a video on X with exclamation marks.

!!

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 11, 2025

The whistleblower’s mother revealed in an interview with Mario Nawfal that her son joined OpenAI because of its non-profit mission, believing in its potential for the good of humanity. But she said he became concerned when OpenAI moved to a for-profit model, prompting him to question his role in the organization. “Then his concerns started to grow,” she said.

Mother calls for an FBI investigation

Last year, the body of a 26-year-old whistleblower was found in his San Francisco apartment. Authorities ruled his death a suicide and police said no evidence of a crime had been found. However, the whistleblower’s mother publicly disputed this conclusion and demanded an FBI investigation into the circumstances of his death.

Update enabled @suchirbalaji

We hired a private investigator and performed a second autopsy to shed light on the cause of death. A private autopsy did not confirm the cause of death given by the police.

Suchir’s apartment has been ransacked, there are signs of a fight in the bathroom and it looks like someone hit him…

— Purnima Rao (@RaoPoornima) December 29, 2024

Earlier, Elon Musk supported Poornima’s claims regarding his son’s death. In a post on X, Musk reacted to Poornima’s post about his son’s death, stating: “It doesn’t look like suicide.” Suchir left OpenAI, citing ethical concerns about contributing to technology that he believed would do more harm than good.

(With the participation of the agency)