Man accused in Molotov cocktail attack of OpenAI CEO's home charged with
attempted murder
[April 14, 2026]
By OLGA R. RODRIGUEZ, JUAN LOZANO and LEKAN OYEKANMI
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The man accused of throwing a Molotov cocktail at
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman’s home had written about AI's purported risk to
humanity and traveled from Texas to San Francisco intending to kill
Altman, authorities said Monday.
Authorities allege 20-year-old Daniel Moreno-Gama threw the incendiary
device about 4 a.m. Friday, setting an exterior gate at Altman’s home
alight before fleeing on foot, police said. Less than an hour later,
Moreno-Gama allegedly went to OpenAI’s headquarters about 3 miles (4.83
kilometers) away and threatened to burn down the building.
Moreno-Gama is opposed to artificial intelligence, writing about AI’s
purported risk to humanity and “our impending extinction,” according to
a federal criminal complaint.
“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.
No one was injured at Altman's home or the company offices, authorities
said.
Moreno-Gama faces state and federal charges
Moreno-Gama faces charges including two counts of attempted murder and
attempted arson in California state court, San Francisco District
Attorney Brooke Jenkins. He tried to kill both Altman and a security
guard at Altman's residence, she alleged. He is set to appear in court
Tuesday, and online state court records do not yet show if he has an
attorney.
Jenkins said the state charges carry penalties ranging from 19 years to
life in prison.
On Monday morning, FBI agents went to Moreno-Gama’s home in Spring,
Texas, a suburb of Houston, where they spent several hours before
leaving. He has been charged by federal prosecutors with possession of
an unregistered firearm and damage and destruction of property by means
of explosives. Those charges carry respective penalties of up to 10
years and 20 years in prison.
The federal court documents do not list an attorney for Moreno-Gama, and
he has not yet had his first appearance in federal court.
Authorities allege Moreno-Gama traveled from his home in Texas to San
Francisco and visited Altman’s home early Friday morning.
Authorities say Moreno-Gama was opposed to artificial intelligence
When Moreno-Gama was arrested Friday, officials found a document on him
in which he “identified views opposed to Artificial Intelligence (AI)
and the executives of various AI companies,” court documents say. The
document discussed AI’s purported risk to humanity and “our impending
extinction,” according to the criminal complaint.
Surveillance video images included in the criminal complaint show a
person dressed in a dark hoodie and pants that the FBI alleges is
Moreno-Gama approaching the driveway of Altman’s home. In various
images, the person can be seen tossing the Molotov cocktail, which
landed at the top of a metal gate and started a small fire.
Surveillance video images from outside OpenAI’s headquarters allegedly
show Moreno-Gama grabbing a chair and using it to hit a set of glass
doors. Authorities said Moreno-Gama was approached by the building’s
security personnel, who told investigators he “stated in sum and
substance” that he came to the headquarters “to burn it down and kill
anyone inside,” according to the complaint.
San Francisco police arrested Moreno-Gama and recovered “incendiary
devices, a jug of kerosene, a blue lighter, and a document.” Moreno-Gama
was being held Monday in the San Francisco County Jail on the state
charges, and was expected to appear in court on Tuesday.
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The home of Daniel Moreno-Gama is seen after the FBI raided his home
in Spring, Texas, Monday, April 13, 2026. (Jason Fochtman/Houston
Chronicle via AP)
U.S. Attorney Craig Missakian said authorities “will treat this as
an act of domestic terrorism, and together with our partners,
prosecute him to the fullest extent of the law.”
Authorities say Moreno-Gama's anti-AI document contained threats
against Altman
The document in which Moreno-Gama discussed his opposition to AI
also made threats against Altman, officials said.
“Also 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,” Moreno-Gama is alleged by authorities to have
written in the document.
Advocacy groups that have issued grave warnings about AI’s risks to
society condemned the violence.
Anthony Aguirre, president and CEO of the Future of Life Institute,
said in a written statement Friday that “violence and intimidation
of any kind have no place in the conversation about the future of
AI.”
Another group, PauseAI, said in a statement that the suspect had no
role in the group but joined its forum on the social media platform
Discord about two years ago and posted about 34 messages there, none
containing explicit calls to violence but one that was flagged as
“ambiguous.”
Discord said Monday that it has banned Moreno-Gama for “off-platform
behavior.”
Altman addressed the threats in a blog post
Hours after the attack on his house, Altman posted a photo of his
husband and their toddler in a blog post addressing the threats
against him.
“Normally we try to be pretty private, but in this case I am sharing
a photo in the hopes that it might dissuade the next person from
throwing a Molotov cocktail at our house, no matter what they think
about me,” Altman wrote.
He added that “fear and anxiety about AI is justified” but it was
important to “de-escalate the rhetoric and tactics and try to have
fewer explosions in fewer homes, figuratively and literally.”
Altman has become a preeminent voice in Silicon Valley on the
promise and potential dangers of artificial intelligence. The attack
comes days after The New Yorker published an in-depth investigation
that touched on concerns some people have about him and the company.
Debate about the impact of AI is growing
The attack came at a time of growing debate about the societal
effects of AI assistants like OpenAI’s ChatGPT that millions of
people are turning to for information, advice, writing help and to
do work on their behalf.
An annual report published Monday by Stanford University called the
AI index found that most people believe AI’s benefits outweigh its
drawbacks, “but nervousness is growing and trust in institutions to
manage the technology remains uneven.”
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Lozano reported from Houston and Oyekanmi reported from Spring,
Texas. Associated Press journalists Matt O'Brien from Providence,
Rhode Island and Rebecca Boone from Boise, Idaho contributed.
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