Law&Crime Sidebar - OpenAI CEO Confronted Over Whistleblower's Mysterious Death

Episode Date: September 15, 2025

In a tense interview, Tucker Carlson questioned OpenAI CEO Sam Altman about the suspicious death of former employee Suchir Balaji. While official reports indicate that Balaji took his own life, his parents claim he was murdered due to his outspoken criticism of OpenAI’s alleged copyright infringement. Law&Crime’s Jesse Weber and retired FBI agent Colin L. Schmitt delve into the competing narratives, the evidence, and the wider implications of the unfolding mystery.PLEASE SUPPORT THE SHOW: If you’re ever injured in an accident, you can check out Morgan & Morgan. You can submit a claim in 8 clicks or less without having to leave your couch. To start your claim, visit: https://forthepeople.com/LCSidebarHOST:Jesse Weber: https://twitter.com/jessecordweberLAW&CRIME SIDEBAR PRODUCTION:YouTube Management - Bobby SzokeVideo Editing - Michael Deininger, Christina O'Shea, Alex Ciccarone, & Jay CruzScript Writing & Producing - Savannah Williamson & Juliana BattagliaGuest Booking - Alyssa Fisher & Diane KayeSocial Media Management - Vanessa BeinSTAY UP-TO-DATE WITH THE LAW&CRIME NETWORK:Watch Law&Crime Network on YouTubeTV: https://bit.ly/3td2e3yWhere To Watch Law&Crime Network: https://bit.ly/3akxLK5Sign Up For Law&Crime's Daily Newsletter: https://bit.ly/LawandCrimeNewsletterRead Fascinating Articles From Law&Crime Network: https://bit.ly/3td2IqoLAW&CRIME NETWORK SOCIAL MEDIA:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lawandcrime/Twitter: https://twitter.com/LawCrimeNetworkFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/lawandcrimeTwitch: https://www.twitch.tv/lawandcrimenetworkTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lawandcrimeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Wondery Plus subscribers can binge all episodes of this Law and Crimes series ad-free right now. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. In a wild new interview, political commentator Tucker Carlson, questioned Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, about the strange death of a former employee. But did he just accuse him of murder? Carlson says no. Altman seems to say yes.

going into the backstory, the competing narratives, competing conclusions of this employee's death to get to the bottom of what on earth is going on here. Welcome to Sidebar, presented by law and crime. I'm Jesse Weber. Did Tucker Carlson just accused Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT of murder? I mean, according to Altman, the answer seems to be yes. here's what happened. Okay, I'm scrolling through X, and I see this clip. It's from an almost hour-long interview that the political commentator did with the tech innovator. And this over seven-minute bite, this seven-minute conversation is arguably one of the most awkward intense exchanges I have seen in quite some time. And it concerns the death of former

open AI employee, 26-year-old Suchir Balaji back on November 26, 2024. Now, to be clear, This is not something I even knew about, not something I followed, but I will tell you what, after I heard this interview, I immediately told my team, you know what? Maybe we should do a deep dive on this after what happened here. And that is exactly what we are going to do right now. We are trying to understand more about the investigation regarding Sucheer's death. And I'm going to bring on a former FBI agent a little bit later on to get his take on what exactly is going on here. Now, to be clear, to be clear, neither Sam Altman nor anybody at OpenAI has ever been criminally charged, prosecuted, investigated for the death of Suchier, we will explain why. But I just want to make that very, very clear. But let's actually start with this interview, and then we'll work our way back. Unfortunately, due to copyright restrictions, we can't play you. Carlson's interview with Altman, what I can do is read you back key portions of the transcript. I will also tell you, due to YouTube guidelines, we have to be very careful regarding some of the subject matter.

just to say, is it possible that Suchier was not, in fact, murdered, but rather died as a result of his own doing? Let's say it like this. I think you could put two and two together. We just don't want to get flagged because this is an important story. So, let's talk to the interview. Carlson starts and says, you've had complaints from one programmer who said you guys were basically stealing people's stuff and not paying them, and then he wound up murder. What was that? Altman responds, also a great tragedy. He committed, you can fill in the blank, basically saying he died from a gunshot wound by his own hand. Carlson then asks, do you really think he did that? Altman responded, I really do. This was like a friend of mine. This is like a guy that is not a close friend, but this is someone who 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. And Altman stresses, again, that to him, it looks like Suchiore. was not killed. Now, Carlson presses him on why he thinks that, to which Altman responds, it was a gun he had purchased. It was, this is like gruesome to talk about, but I read the whole like medical report. Does it not look like one to you? And Carlson responds, no, he was definitely murdered, I think. There were signs of a struggle, of course, the surveillance camera, the wires had been cut. He had just ordered takeout food, came back from vacation with his friends on

Catalita Island, no indication at all that he was, you know, fell in the blank. No, no, no behavior. He just spoken to a family member on the phone. And then he's found dead with blood in multiple rooms. So that's impossible. Seems really obvious he was murdered. And then this is where the interview takes this wild, wild, uncomfortable turn. Carlson says, have you talked to the authorities about it? And Altman responds, I have not talked to the authorities about it. Carlson responds, and his mother claims he was murdered on your orders. Altman responds, do you believe that? Carlson says, well, I'm asking. And Altman responds, I mean, you just said it. So do you believe that? Carlson says, I think that it's worth looking into. And I don't,

I mean, if a guy comes out and accuses your company of committing crimes, I have no idea if that's true or not, of course, and then is found killed and there are signs of a struggle. I don't think it's worth dismissing it. And Carlson goes on to say, I think if he was your friend, I would think you want to speak to his mom. Altman says, I did offer she didn't want to. Carlson says, so do you feel that, you know, when people look at that and they're like, you know, it's possible that happened, do you feel that that reflects the worries they have about what's happening here? And he's referring, of course, to Open AI and people's concerns about it. And Altman jumps in and says, I haven't done too many interviews where I've been accused of like,

and Carlson jumps in and says, oh, I'm not accusing you at all. I'm just saying his mother says that. I don't think a fair reading of the evidence suggests, again, fell in the blank. I just don't see that at all. And I also don't understand why the authorities, when there's signs of a struggle and blood in two rooms, I don't understand how the authorities could just kind of dismiss that. I think it's weird. Altman responds, you understand how this sounds like an accusation. And Carlson responds, of course. And I mean, I certainly, let me just be clear once again, not accusing you of any wrongdoing, but I think it's worth finding out what happened. And I don't understand why the city of San Francisco has refused to investigate it beyond just calling it a

an Altman response i mean i think they looked into it a couple of times more than once as i understand it i saw that and i will totally say when i first heard about this it sounded very suspicious to me carlson says yes altman um and i know you had been involved and carlson says well his mother asked about the case and i know you know i don't know anything about it's not my world and altman says she just reached out cold carlson responds she reached out cold and i spoke to her a great length, and it scared the crap out of me. The kid was clearly killed by somebody. That was my conclusion, objectively, with no skin in the game. Altman responds, and after reading the latest report, Carlson says, yes. Like, look, I immediately called a member of Congress from

California, Rokana, and said, this is crazy, you've got to look into this, and nothing ever happened, and I'm like, what is that? Altman responds, again, I think this is, I feel strange and sad debating this, and you are a little bit accusing me, but this was like a wonderful person and a family that is clearly struggling, yes, and I think you can totally take the point that you're just trying to get to the truth of what happened, and I respect that, but I think his memory and his family deserve to be treated with a level of respect and grief that I don't quite feel here. Carlson strongly pushes back and says, I'm asking at the behest of his family, so I'm definitely showing them respect. I'm not accusing you of any involvement in this at all. And then later,

Altman says, again, when it first happened, he thought it sounded weird, but later changed his mind based on more details that came out. Carlson pushes back, emphasizes, again, the alleged blood in two rooms, apparently a wig in the room that wasn't sue cheers, no note. He ordered takeout food. But Altman counters, this is where it gets into, I think, a little bit painful, just not the level of respect I'd hope to show. People do, you know, fill in the blank without notes. A lot like that happens. People definitely order food. They like before they, you know, do something. Again, you can watch this whole interview. It is just something. It is very, very wild. It's uncomfortable. Again, it made me want to do a story on it. But what is this all about, right? What is Carlson referring to?

So let's talk about it. Now, as I keep saying, I really wanted to bring this episode to you. And one of the reasons that we can do this is because of the incredible support that we get from our sponsor, Morgan and Morgan, America's largest injury law firm. This is a firm with over 1,000 attorneys. You know why they're so big? Because they win a lot. They have recovered over $25 billion for more than 500,000 clients. Think about that. In the past few months, you have a client in Florida who received $12 million after the insurance company offered just $350,000. Out in Pennsylvania, a client was awarded $26 million. That is, 40 times the insurer's $650,000 offer.

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So Suchir Bellaji was found dead in his San Francisco apartment. Now the San Francisco police and the office of the medical examiner concluded that Suchier died by his own hand. that there was, quote, no foul play was found during the initial investigation. And that is consistent with the report. So what does that say? Well, it says cause of death, gunshot wound to the head. Quote, Balaji was found unresponsive inside his locked apartment unit,

deadbolt engaged with an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound to his head. Entry to the unit was made by the building manager, San Francisco Fire Department paramedics, and San Francisco Police Department officers to perform a wellness check. San Francisco Fire Department paramedics pronounced death at 13, 20 hours. Now, here are the additional investigative observations in this report. Quote, Belaghi's fourth floor apartment is accessed through the front door. There are no other entry points to the unit.

The apartment windows are stories above the shared courtyard and street and are equipped with devices that restrict the window opening to approximately four inches. There was no evidence of forced entry to the unit or disturbance within the unit. A desktop computer was observed unseen. Recent searches for brain anatomy included total gray matter volume and white matter. Now, this is interesting. He was pronounced dead, November 26, but the report says, Bellagie last communicated with his mother via text message on Friday, November 22nd, 2024.

At that time, he did not voice any complaints or concerns. And according to the report, his mother had said that he had, experienced significant stress recently and that he had quit his job and was actively seeking new employment, but she also stated that to her knowledge, he had never expressed that he would do something like this. So the report continues, the following items were secured at the scene. One Glock pistol containing four live rounds in the magazine and one spent casing located in the chamber, and one gunshot residue kit and one handbag kit. The pistol was purchased and registered by Bellagie on January 4th, 2024. Now, as far as the body, the report states that

Bellaji was found lying supine on the floor of the bathroom. The pistol was found underneath his right thigh. Also, when the examination was done, quote, the front and back of the hands show no traumatic injuries. So there doesn't appear to be anything out of order. When you look at this report, there was no trauma. All appears to be normal other than, of course, the gunshot wound. but the body, the report says that the body is of a well-developed, well-nourished adult man. There's nothing abnormal going on here. And then you go to the gunshot wound, or it says, quote, on the glabella of the forehead centered approximately 13 centimeters below the top of the head

and 0.5 centimeters right of the interior midline is the entrance gunshot wound, and the wound track travels from the decedent's front to back and downward. The report also indicates that he had a blood alcohol concentration of 0.178%. That is twice the legal limit. And apparently there was also the presence of drugs in a system, including the depressant GHB. So in other words, right, when you look at this report, it seems to support Altman's conclusion from the interview. Here's the problem. Forbes and the San Francisco Examiner, they report that Sucher's parents believe he was murder.

believe he was murdered, that he was killed by Open AI because of him speaking out against the company, calling for a full investigation, questioning the medical examiner's report. More specifically, Soutir's parents, Pornima Ramarau, and her husband, Balaji Ramamurthy, commissioned a second autopsy by Dr. Joseph Cohen, and Pornima told the San Francisco examiner that the trajectory of the bullet actually doesn't match up, with Suchier doing this to himself, that it took a diagonal path from his forehead through the base of his head

and didn't make contact with his brain, right? So more like an execution style. The second autopsy, this autopsy that was apparently commissioned by Sucher's family, also found a potential injury to his head. Evidence of assault is what the allegation is. Now, it doesn't appear though that that report was provided to the media.

His mother also apparently commissioned her own crime scene investigation of her son's apartment with investigator Dr. Dinesh Rao. Dr. Rao saying in his report, the crime scene examination is inadequate and incomplete and unscientific. Something to note here, and this is based on the reporting, what Carlson references, right, the surveillance camera wires being cut, the blood in the multiple rooms, these allegations apparently haven't been substantiated in official reports, but I want to talk about what the family's independent crime scene investigation determined, okay? So this is based on reporting from the Daily Mail regarding apparent photos of this scene.

Photos that allegedly show blood pooled around the bathroom door where Sucher's head was laying, and inside the bathroom there were blood droplets apparently on the tiles, the cabinet, the cabinet handle, and on the other side of the room. With Rao, Dr. Rao concluding that it looks like some blood fell from Suchir as he was sitting, maybe even crawling, and some while he was standing. And there's also a possibility, according to Dr. Rao, that Suchir could have coughed up blood. Now, to be clear, the Daily Mail also reports

that some of the blood allegedly found splattered around the bathroom was not exactly near Sucher's body. And there was also citing how a wireless earbud was found on the floor near his bedroom with blood stains on it, and the other earbud reportedly being found by the bathroom door in a deposit of dried blood. So this all seems to be kind of backing up what Carlson was talking about. Also referencing what Carlson said in his interview, the Daily Mail reports that in the blood stains were synthetic hairs from a wig or possibly from a wig, that the apartment

was allegedly ransacked as if someone was searching for something, and it was reportedly particularly messy near Sucher's body, citing how in the bathroom a trash bin was knocked over. his father reportedly said that his son's apartment, yes, it was messy, but it was never in that much disarray. Dr. Rao writes in his report, the disturbed surrounding supports possibility of fights, resistance, which need to be corroborated with other forensic evidence. And Dr. Rao cited that Suchir most likely bled for 15 to 30 minutes and wrote that the scattered scenes were, quote, more likely seen in homicidal death scenes. Now also in reference to the Carlson interview, the Daily Mail reports that a half-eaten meal in this plastic tray was found

on a desk in the apartment. There was a fork. There was a restaurant receipt. And yes, Suchir apparently did come back from a week-long trip to the Catalina Islands for a week with friends. His father saying that his son was happy, though, and how he had fun on this trip. I will say, though, the Daily Mail reports, that one of his friends on this trip said that, while not unusual for Suchir, he did seem to be thinking deeply on the trip. He even walked by himself at one point, but emphasized, this friend emphasized how Sucher was in a good mood. His father sang in their last phone conversation on the 22nd one.

When they asked if he wanted to go to an exhibit with him a few months later, Sucher apparently responded, sure, let's see, I'll think about it. And when he asked his son, if he was going to visit, Suchier apparently said, not immediately. So his parents don't believe there was any indication. that Sucher would do something, and they believe that foul play is afoot, which begs the question why, right? Hypothetically, allegedly, why would OpenAI want Suchir Bellaji dead? Well, Sucher reportedly spoke to the New York Times a month before he died, and this is about

two months after he left the company. He was reportedly very vocal in how Open AI was allegedly illegally using copyrighted material to modify the AI model, the chatbots, and that this was going to hurt the owners of these copyrighted works, telling the times this is not a sustainable model for the internet ecosystem as a whole. If you believe what I believe, you have to just leave the company. And yes, he quit the company. Posted an essay about this on his personal website. And Sucher was also named in a court filing regarding, by the way, the New York Times lawsuit against OpenAI, they were suing them for copyright infringement, basically saying the platform was misappropriating their articles to train their chatbots, and now these chatbots

are directly competing with the times when it comes to people getting their information, getting their news. So Open AI, by the way, denies these allegations. But going back to this court filing, it states, quote, as a good faith compromise, OpenAI has agreed to search the custodial files of former employee Suu Kyi to identify documents in his custodial file, if any, related to purported copyright concerns he has recently raised following his employment at OpenA.I. Soucher's mom told the Daily Mail that her son also was no fan of Sam Altman.

Quote, he's a very weird person. Sucher hated him. That much I can tell you. All his friends say he was very vocal against Sam Altman. Now, it is not just Sucher's parents who questioned the official findings. have been others who believe that there is more to this young man's death. Back in January, California Representative Rokana posted on X regarding Soutcher's mother's claims, quote, I am heartbroken by your loss.

Given your very serious concerns about foul play, I do believe that there should be a full and transparent investigation into the death by the FBI or appropriate agency. Elon Musk, who is, as you know, apparently no fan of Sam Altman, a big rival to him. The two tech giants have been feuding for a while. He posted just the other day on X in response to Carlson's interview with Sam Altman. Supposedly, by the way, it has to do with Open AI Altman's refusal to let Musk buy them out. Bottle of bad blood. Anyway, Musk just posted regarding Suchir, he was murdered.

That's what he posted on X. According to Forbes, Sucher's mother has indicated that this investigation is still going on, that she has been trying to raise money for it, even pushing for a 3D crime, construction of the apartment. And in response to Altman's interview with Carlson, she posted on X, quote, this is the response for Tucker Carlson's interview with Sam Altman. This is what people are saying. These many people responded immediately. How does this sound to you all? I will make a podcast and share very soon. This is the reaction against Altman by the public. This response to your question, who else believes Sam killed Suchier? And she lists out a number of ex posts from

users questioning Sam Altman. So let me bring in my own expert. We have Colin L. Schmidt, retired FBI agent, president, CEO of Kronos investigations. Thank you so much for taking the time. Let me just be clear about something. And I said it before. I'll say it again. Sam Altman, not so neither Sam Altman, nobody in Open AI has ever been criminally charged or investigated or prosecuted or implicated in the death of Suchier. But honestly, when we look at the this interview, I wanted to start right there. What was your opinion of this interview, aside from the fact that it was, again, one of the most awkward tense interactions I've seen in recent memory? Well, I did watch the interview, and it appeared that in typical Tucker

fashion manner, he was kind of doing the kind of the gotcha moment and basically put him on the defensive, and then he was very, he was like, you know, he's kind of looking at Tucker, like, where did this come from? So Tucker Carlson, obviously, that's his style to get clickbait, to get people to watch his videos. However, there is a lot of unanswered questions surrounding this incident, this incident. And frankly, there does need to be more transparency, in my opinion, so the family can get some closure on what happened to their son. Do you feel that there are discrepancies between the private crime scene investigation report, right? This private report that was commissioned by the family and the San Francisco Medical Examiner's report,

or is it possible two things could be true at the same time? Well, generally speaking, you can't prove a negative, number one. Number two, without seeing the video and the photographs of the actual scene. and, you know, I don't want to call it a crime scene because it's in dispute on what happened there. Basically, those photographs are what really is going to dictate, for example, a prosecution. And there's allegations that there was a struggle, that the place was quote-unquote ransack. You know, what does that mean? Without looking at the actual photographs of the scene, then it's hard to make a conclusion on our reconcile the two reports.

Now, we reported what the Daily Mail said about a lot of these photos, right? Blood in different locations, an apartment in disarray, the leftover food. Does this look like foul play? Or do you go back to what Sam Altman said in the interview? That, unfortunately, in certain situations, there could be somebody who orders food. There could be a situation where, you know, it might appear that someone was killed when they really weren't. There could be a situation I'm just speculating here where if someone is shot, it may not go exactly as that person had intended. Do you think there's foul play based on what

the reporting indicates so far? Well, there's quite a few unanswered questions. So just to kind of, there is an allegation, the official report of what happened and then what the family is saying. And then frankly, Sam Altman should not have even commented. on this because it's because he could have said well it's still up for dispute but bottom line is if if based upon what the official report said there should have been some sort of of communication that this person had with the world is generally what you're going to see you know the note so to speak and then there should have been some lead up because generally people who do these kind of things are going to show some sort of leakage or some sort of actions that indicate

that they have a mindset of what they're going to do. And then the other thing with all the blood and all these other places, generally speaking, if somebody actually did what they said they did, you're going to have one spot where it happens and it's not going to be all over the place. Is it unusual to question an official medical examiner's office report? I mean, In another way, it happens a lot and there's a justification to question it and sometimes they get it wrong? Well, yeah, because if there's a rush to get a conclusion out and, you know, law enforcement, they're full of human beings. Sometimes they make mistakes or there was some sort of reason why they pushed to make the conclusion. And frankly, relying on ME's report, that's only one piece of the puzzle.

there's lots of other things that go into a investigation it's not just the medical examiner it's the crime scene or the scene photos it's the blood alcohol it's the interview of the people that are around him it's the investigation of the firearm it's the you're looking at whether they're the placement of the firearm all kinds of things go into it so the emmy report is only one piece of the puzzle just your thoughts on this according to the daily email. So Soucher's parents believe he was attacked from behind while he was listening to music. That's why you have the earbuds that he was brushing his teeth when this happened, fought back, and that he was executed, that he was shot in the head, well, on his knees or sitting down.

Just your thoughts on that. Well, once again, I'd have to look at the ME report and there's basically they're saying he was shot with on his knees. There's going to be a trajectory analysis. And just real quick. they say it was a diagonal angle. The ME's report basically says it was, you know, front to back through the forehead. My understanding. Well, and once again, you know, I think you've seen those poles or those red rods when they do the analysis, because the trajectory is not something that you can, you know, fake or change. It is what it is because the skull is not going to change. So basically, that trajectory would be the probably the most important thing to identify and establish. And based upon the ME, it sounds like they're saying it would be an appropriate trajectory,

but the family is saying it was a diagonal or 45 degree trajectory. Now, if it indeed was, then you have opens up a whole bunch of questions because if he indeed did what the ME report said he did, you just simply can't do that that's kind of like you know calling it something when somebody shoots themselves in the back of the head it's just not possible and i'm and i'm a little torn on something how difficult would it be to murder someone and stage the scene because the other way of looking at it is if this was a professional hit of some kind right why leave it in a condition where there are questions why leave it in a condition where the apartment does appear to be ransacked when you do have potential forensic material in different areas, when you have the food,

you know, that becomes a question too, right? If this really was a hit, while even in a condition where it may look like a hit? Well, allegedly, allegedly, by the way. Because part of it is the concept of a professional hit. I mean, that's only in the movies. There really isn't that many professional so-called hitmen out there. If it truly was, somebody else did this, they are going to. going to be stressed out. They probably have not done this before. If they have, it's been a very

few, and they made mistakes. And that's just a simple, if it indeed was foul play. So it really comes down to the analysis of that skull, and then that would be where you would expand your investigation. The Emory report says you can only get through the front door, again, the gunshot wound to the head, and no forced entry. If that is true, what does that tell you? Well, I'm I'm kind of perplexes. Generally, they don't put information about the state of the building. They only talk about the body. So if there was indeed a deadbolt thrown, yes, that would indicate that there was nobody

that participated in this. It was just one person, you know, the decedent. But how do we know it was if the deadbolt was thrown? And then if it was thrown, are there pictures of law enforcement kicking the door in and, you know, blowing that deadbolt off the wall, and I don't know if there is. So there's lots of follow-up questions that has been, frankly, created by the Tucker Carlson interview, and I anticipate there's going to be some more investigation on this case. What role could the FBI play here?

Well, they could be brought in for one cell phone. We always talk about cell phones, do some analysis on his phone. Whatever gaps that the San Francisco police may have, they could be. come in for DNA analysis to assist with that. They could also be brought in to follow-up leads, you know, that are not in the San Francisco area. And they could also be brought in just to kind of consult as like when I was on the job, I was a criminal profiler to give them kind of ideas on who might have participated in this act. And you hear the family talking about maybe commissioning a 3D scan of the apartment, what value would that serve?

I think that if they have the scene photos, then they can add that to the 3D, and then they can kind of show a picture or paint a picture for the, frankly, for the media so they can get more support from the public to support reopening this investigation. Does the timing bother you? I mentioned it before, right? What would be the motive for him to be killed is the idea that you know he was providing information about the company that was not favorable accusing them of essentially serious copyright infringement and then shortly after you know he dies um does that bother you well it is it possible there's possible and probable it's not probable that sam walton would get involved in something like this he seems to be a rational

human being but when you're speaking of potentially billions and billions and billions of dollars that may make people do, you know, things that are not rational. So, yes, the timing, timing is one of the big circumstances when you look at a crime, is what was happening around the time of the act. So to determine if there was motive. And according to the Daily Mail, going back to this gun that he had apparently purchased, it was found near his body. There was a box of nine millimeter ammunition found in the closet six rounds. I'll say we're missing, although one was found in the gun case, four were found somewhere else, and then there was one that was apparently unaccounted for. Thoughts on that? Well, if he did indeed purchase the gun and he has no experience

or a history with owning firearms, that would fall in line with what the official explanation is because there's no other reason for him to purchase that gun. But once again, they have to look at that, investigate that to determine if it was indeed him or if there's somebody with him when he purchased the gun and kind of flesh out any details of that to determine if he indeed was the one that got the gun and he was the one who basically used the firearm. Look, it's really, really sad. You have this young man who had such promise, right? I mean, he joined Open AI in November of 2020 after graduating from UC Berkeley.

His mom sang at a vigil that, quote, he was a prodigy. We knew he had excellent motor skills when he was two and a half months. At 13 months old, he showed he was not ordinary by picking up all the alphabet. Less than two years old, he could recognize words. This is a guy who won a major programming competition in high school, the Platinum Division of the USA Computing Olympiad. He worked at Quora as a software engineer. He won $100,000 in 2018 by earning seventh place in an algorithm competition.

And he excelled at Open AI. Co-founder John Shulman, he'd think through the details of things carefully and rigorously. And he also had a slight contrarian streak that made him allergic to group think and eager to find where the consensus was wrong. Just a really sad case. We'll keep an eye on it. Colin Schmidt, thank you so much for taking the time. Appreciate it. Thank you for having me.

And that's all we have for you right now here on Sidebar, everybody. Thank you so much for joining us. And as always, please subscribe on YouTube, Apple Podcast, Spotify, wherever you should get your podcast. You can follow me on X or Instagram. I'm Jesse Weber. I'll see you next time.