Elon Musk has reignited controversy by resharing a video featuring Poornima Ramarao, the mother of Suchir Balaji, who accuses OpenAI of being responsible for her son’s death. In the video, Ramarao claims that Balaji, named a witness custodian by The New York Times and said to possess crucial documents against OpenAI, was attacked and killed by the AI company. The claim contradicts the official findings by the San Francisco Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, which stated that Balaji died by suicide.
Poornima Ramarao has persistently disputed the suicide ruling, insisting that her son was murdered. She and her family have demanded an FBI investigation, pointing to several lapses in the original inquiry and raising concerns about the circumstances surrounding Balaji’s death. Earlier this year, Musk had also shared similar clips in support of these allegations.
!! https://t.co/ft3TzemOrv
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 12, 2025
Sam Altman’s Feud With Elon Musk
This latest reshare comes amid an intensifying public feud between Elon Musk and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. The rivalry escalated recently when Musk accused Altman of dishonesty in a tweet responding to a critical thread by user Dillon Loomis, who detailed allegations questioning Altman’s integrity and leadership. Musk tweeted, “Scam Altman lies as easily as he breathes.”
The dispute extends beyond social media accusations into the AI market itself. Musk’s xAI, known for its AI assistant Grok, has claimed that Apple is unfairly favouring OpenAI’s ChatGPT in App Store rankings, deliberately hindering competitors like xAI from gaining top app positions. Despite Grok’s recent feature upgrades, neither it nor the X app is among the App Store’s leading AI applications.
Hey @Apple App Store, why do you refuse to put either 𝕏 or Grok in your “Must Have” section when 𝕏 is the #1 news app in the world and Grok is #5 among all apps?
Are you playing politics? What gives? Inquiring minds want to know. https://t.co/3wenLZGtwG
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 11, 2025
Sam Altman fired back at Musk’s allegations, accusing him of manipulating the X platform to benefit his own ventures while undermining rivals and critics. Altman called Musk’s claims “remarkable” given the allegations against Musk himself regarding platform manipulation.
will you sign an affidavit that you have never directed changes to the X algorithm in a way that has hurt your competitors or helped your own companies?
i will apologize if so.
— Sam Altman (@sama) August 12, 2025
The origin of Musk’s attacks on both Apple and OpenAI remains unclear, though speculation points to rising competition between xAI and OpenAI. Apple is also a key partner with OpenAI for AI technologies, adding complexity to the rivalry.