A Texas man accused of throwing a Molotov cocktail at the San Francisco home of OpenAI boss Sam Altman is facing multiple state charges, including two counts of attempted murder. Daniel Moreno-Gama is scheduled to hear those charges at an arraignment on Tuesday afternoon.
At the same time, the 20-year-old is facing federal felony charges that include possession of an unregistered firearm and attempted damage and destruction of property using explosives.
The US justice department alleges he was found with documents advocating against artificial intelligence (AI) and calling for crimes to be committed against AI executives and investors.
“Violence cannot be the norm for expressing disagreement, be it with politics or a technology or any other matter,” said Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche. “These alleged actions – which damaged property and could well have taken lives – will be aggressively prosecuted.”
OpenAI said in a statement that “to ensure society gets AI right, we need to work through the democratic process” and “we welcome a good faith debate” but added that “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”.
Local and federal authorities did not identify the person or house that was the subject of the attempted attacks, but on Friday, a spokeswoman for OpenAI confirmed to the BBC that the related incident had occurred at Altman’s home.
In their criminal complaint, federal prosecutors allege that Moreno-Gama set fire to an exterior gate at Altman’s home around 4:00 local time (12:00 BST) Friday before fleeing on foot.
Moreno-Gama is also accused to trying to set fire to the San Francisco headquarters of OpenAI, which makes ChatGPT, about an hour later.
Security personnel on site stated Moreno-Gama tried to use a chair to strike the glass doors of the building, according to the complaint.
The justice department also said officers had recovered incendiary devices, a jug of kerosene, and a lighter from Moreno-Gama.
Moreno-Gama allegedly carried documents discussing potential risks that AI poses to humanity, with a section titled: “Some more words on the matter of our impending extinction.”
The documents also 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”, and included the names and addresses of board members, CEOs, and investors at various AI companies.
The criminal complaint includes several images taken from surveillance cameras that show Moreno-Gama at both locations.
No one was injured in the incidents.
“I’m grateful that Mr Altman, his family, and his employees were uninjured in these attacks and are safe,” San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins said at a Monday press conference on the state charges.
Earlier Monday, the FBI conducted a raid in Texas related to the incident, according to a post on X from FBI Director Kash Patel.
Last week, Altman was the subject of a investigative profile in The New Yorker magazine that called into question his trustworthiness and fitness to lead a company developing controversial AI technology.
Hours after the incident at his home on Friday, Altman cited what he called the “incendiary article about me” and said “we should de-escalate the rhetoric and tactics and try to have fewer explosions in fewer homes, figuratively and literally.”
Altman later posted on X that he regretted linking the article and the alleged attack after receiving criticism on social media.
OpenAI’s 2022 release of ChatGPT unleashed a wave of consumer interest in AI chatbots.
Since then, the industry has drawn a massive wave of financial investment which has left many investors and observers sceptical.
By BBC News
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