San Francisco Police Arrest Suspect in Molotov Cocktail Attack on OpenAI CEO's Home

San Francisco police arrested Moreno-Gama on state charges after he allegedly threw a Molotov cocktail at the home of OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. The arrest took place following the incident at Altman's residence. Moreno-Gama, aged 20, was held in San Francisco County Jail on Monday and was scheduled to appear in court on Tuesday.

Authorities recovered incendiary devices, a jug of kerosene, a blue lighter, and a document from the scene. The document expressed opposition to artificial intelligence and included threats against Altman. An attorney stated that authorities will treat the incident as an act of domestic terrorism and prosecute accordingly.

Suspect's Document and Background In the document, Moreno-Gama wrote that if he was going to advocate for others to kill and commit crimes, he must lead by example to show sincerity in his message.

Officials reported that the document contained these threats. Moreno-Gama had joined the Discord forum of the advocacy group PauseAI about two years ago and posted approximately 34 messages, none of which explicitly called for violence, though one was flagged as ambiguous. PauseAI stated that Moreno-Gama had no role in the group.

Discord announced that it banned Moreno-Gama for off-platform behavior. The group condemned the violence in a statement.

Responses from Advocacy Groups and Altman Anthony Aguirre, president and CEO of the Future of Life Institute, issued a statement saying that violence and intimidation have no place in discussions about AI's future.

This response came on Friday. Other AI advocacy groups have issued warnings about AI's risks to society. Hours after the attack, Altman posted on his blog, sharing a photo of his husband and toddler.

He wrote that the family normally keeps a low profile but shared the photo to potentially dissuade future attacks, regardless of opinions about him.