The 20-year-old man, who was arrested for allegedly throwing a Molotov cocktail at OpenAI CEO Sam Altman‘s home in the Russian Hill neighbourhood, San Francisco, has been identified as Daniel Alejandro Moreno-Gama, according to The San Francisco Standard.
He was ultimately booked into San Francisco County Jail on Friday afternoon (US time) and charged with attempted murder, arson, criminal threats, two counts of possession of an incendiary device, two counts of possessing a destructive device.
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Daniel Alejandro Moreno-Gama: What we know about suspect
As per Altman’s description of the alarming incident referenced in his blog post, the event occurred at approximately 3:45 am. A police report referenced by The San Francisco Standard confirmed that the suspect hurled a bottle with a lit rag at the metal gate of 855 Chestnut St.
According to information acquired by the San Francisco news outlet, surveillance footage recorded images of the suspect in front of the residence. Currently, the image has been obscured pending the formal identification of the suspect by US authorities.
In a statement on X, the San Francisco Police Department said that the same person threatened to inflict significant damage at OpenAI’s headquarters located in Mission Bay after fleeing Altman’s neighborhood following the first alleged attack involving an incendiary device.
Officials later confirmed that the suspect was apprehended outside OpenAI’s Third Street offices while making threats to set the building on fire.
In response to the incident, San Francisco police and firefighters were dispatched to Altman’s residence shortly before 4 am. Authorities further stated that although a fire had occurred at an exterior gate, it had “self-extinguished” by the time they arrived. An incendiary device was retrieved as evidence from the location.
Sam Altman’s attack: What was the motive?
Additional information regarding the incident remains undisclosed. Law enforcement has not yet revealed the precise motive that led the suspect to act on early Friday.
In relation to Altman’s blog entry, he noted encountering an “incendiary article” about himself a few days prior. The creator of ChatGPT likely referred to a New Yorker piece that questioned whether Altman “could be trusted.”
In addition to personal insights, his blog post also contemplated how the significant anxiety surrounding AI might have contributed to the alarming event.
“Someone said to me yesterday they thought it was coming at a time of great anxiety about AI and that it made things more dangerous for me. I brushed it aside,” he mentioned. “Now I am awake in the middle of the night and pissed, and thinking that I have underestimated the power of words and narratives. This seems like as good of a time as any to address a few things.”
