--- title: "Elon Musk Says an OpenAI Whistleblower Was Murdered" description: "Fresh off of making unsubstantiated claims about \"the left\" being behind the assassination of right-wing pundit Charlie Kirk, billionaire Elon Musk is ready to continue his unhinged, rage-filled meltdown. In the early morning hours of Thursday, Musk furthered a baseless conspiracy theory that former OpenAI researcher Suchir Balaji, who passed away last year, was \"murdered/ The late 26-year-old software engineer, an OpenAI whistleblower, had gone to the New York Times months before his passing, decrying what he deemed to be illegal copyright violations by his employer. He was also prepared to testify as a witness in the newspaper's lawsuit against […]" date: "2025-09-11" modified: "2025-09-11" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/elon-musk-openai-whistleblower-murdered" categories: - "Artificial Intelligence" - "Elon Musk" - "Future Society" - "OpenAI" - "The Industrialists" tags: - "elon musk" - "OpenAI" - "sam altman" --- # Elon Musk Says an OpenAI Whistleblower Was Murdered ![Tesla CEO Elon Musk claimed that an OpenAI whistleblower named Suchir Balaji, who passed away last year, was actually killed.]() *\Image: Andrew Harnik/Getty Images\* In the early morning hours of Thursday, Tesla CEO Elon Musk claimed that an OpenAI whistleblower named Suchir Balaji, who passed away last year, was actually killed. "He was murdered," Musk [posted](), in reference to Balaji's death. The late 26-year-old software engineer had [gone to the *New York Times*]() months before his passing, decrying what he deemed to be illegal copyright violations by his employer. He was also [prepared to testify]() as a witness in the newspaper's lawsuit against the company. As [*Fortune* reports](), Musk repeated the claim that he was murdered — despite investigators [concluding]() earlier this year that he'd taken his own life with a gun — hours after OpenAI CEO Sam Altman [appeared on Tucker Carlson's show]() during which the same topic came up. The implication, seemingly: that OpenAI, or those associated with it, secretly orchestrated the whistleblower's murder. "I was really shaken by this tragedy," Altman told Carlson. "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 concluded. It was a bizarre exchange, with a defensive Altman joking that "I haven’t done too many interviews where I’ve been accused of murder." "You understand how this sounds like an accusation," Altman told Carlson, after he went on a tirade about the purported evidence supporting the theory that Balaji was murdered. It's not hard to see Musk's motivation for trying to side with Carlson on the issue. His [personal feud]() with Altman has been simmering for years, escalating into a [full-blown and drawn-out legal battle](). Balaji's death quickly became a major point of contention earlier this year, with his family refusing to accept the investigator's findings. His mother [made her own appearance on Carlson's show](), arguing that the evidence didn't add up. She also filed a lawsuit against the San Francisco Police Department, demanding the release of the full report. As *Fortune* points out, the external investigator the family hired never visited the crime scene. While Musk is unlikely to lend much additional credence to the theory that Balaji's death involved foul play, his significant influence and following could set the stage for an escalation. **More on Musk:** *[OpenAI Execs Are Extremely Upset]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()