"Was Like A Friend": Sam Altman On OpenAI Whistleblower Suchir Balaji's Death

Sam Altman says OpenAI whistleblower Suchir Balaji, who died last year, "was like a friend."

The OpenAI co-founder also backed the police ruling that Balaji's death was a suicide, a finding rejected by Elon Musk. The Tesla CEO has publicly insisted the researcher "was murdered."

Suchir Balaji, an Indian-origin AI researcher, worked at OpenAI for four years before he was found dead in his apartment in November 2024, weeks after accusing the company of copyright violations.

Sam Altman Defends Official Findings

Sam Altman addressed Balaji's death in an interview with former Fox News anchor Tucker Carlson.

"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?" Carlson asked.

Altman replied, "A great tragedy. He committed suicide."

Asked if he thought Balaji killed himself, Sam Altman said, "I really do."

"He was like a friend of mine. 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," he said.

Asked why, Altman added, "It was a gun he had purchased."

Sam Altman on God, Elon and the mysterious death of his former employee.

(0:00) Is AI Alive? Is It Lying to Us?
(3:37) Does Sam Altman Believe in God?
(6:37) What Is Morally Right and Wrong According to ChatGPT?
(19:08) ChatGPT Users Committing Suicide
(27:21) Will Altman Allow… pic.twitter.com/ZQSbSCMgCp

— Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson) September 10, 2025

Carlson insisted Balaji was "definitely murdered." He pointed to what he described as "signs of a struggle," cut surveillance wires, and blood in multiple rooms. According to Carlson, the 26-year-old showed "no indication at all" of being suicidal. He also noted that Balaji's mother believes her son was killed.

"I haven't done too many interviews where I've been accused of murder," Altman replied, as the exchange grew tense.

He was murdered https://t.co/KDaomi5AlJ

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 11, 2025

Elon Musk's 'Murder' Claim

Elon Musk, a longtime critic of Sam Altman, weighed in after Tucker Carlson shared the interview clip. Posting on X, Musk wrote, "He was murdered."

A graduate of UC Berkeley in Computer Science, Suchir Balaji was an accomplished programmer.

His parents told NDTV, "We read the second autopsy, there are signs of struggle such as head injury, more details from the autopsy reveal it is murder."