A man allegedly traveled all the way from Spring, Texas, to throw a Molotov cocktail at OpenAI co-founder and CEO Sam Altman’s San Francisco home, the Associated Press reports.
On Monday morning, a swarm of FBI agents raided the suburban Houston home of 20-year-old Daniel Moreno-Gama. Authorities allege that Moreno-Gama threw the incendiary device at 3:30 a.m. Friday, setting an exterior gate at Altman’s home on fire before he fled on foot.
Less than an hour later, Moreno-Gama allegedly went to OpenAI’s headquarters and threatened to burn down the building, the AP reports.
No one was injured at Altman’s home or the company headquarters, authorities said.
Multiple media reports state Moreno-Gama had documents in his possession, which allegedly stated, “If I am going to advocate for others to kill and commit crimes, then I must lead by example and show that I am fully sincere in my message.” The documents reportedly included the names and addresses of board members, CEOs and investors at various AI companies.
“This was not spontaneous. This was planned, targeted and extremely serious,” said FBI San Francisco Acting Special Agent in Charge Matt Cobo during a press conference.
Moreno-Gama faces both state and federal charges. He’s been charged with two counts of attempted murder and attempted arson in California state court, San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins said in a Monday press conference. He’s also been charged by federal prosecutors with possession of an unregistered firearm and damage and destruction of property by means of explosives.
Jenkins said the state charges carry penalties ranging from 19 years to life in prison. The federal charges carry respective penalties of up to 10 years and 20 years in the pen, NPR reports.
Court documents state that the suspect considers AI an existential threat to humans, which would lead to “our impending extinction,” the AP reports.
In a separate incident, two people have been arrested for allegedly firing shots at Altman’s house on Sunday morning, according to multiple media reports.
In a statement, OpenAI officials said “there is no place in our democracy for violence against anyone, regardless of the AI lab they work at or side of the debate they belong to,” the BBC reports.
The back-to-back attacks follow a wave of increasing scrutiny, both for Altman and AI, a technology for which he has become a prominent figurehead and something of a fast-talking carnival barker.
Last week, Altman was the subject of a scathing investigative profile in The New Yorker magazine. Coworkers interviewed by the piece referred to him as a “sociopath” and said they don’t trust him to be “the man with his finger on the button.”
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