A Texas man has been charged in connection with an early-morning attack at the San Francisco home of OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, according to authorities. San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins announced Monday that Daniel Moreno-Gama faces two counts of attempted murder and attempted arson in state court for allegedly targeting Altman and a security guard at the residence.
Investigators say the 20-year-old threw a Molotov cocktail at Altman’s home around 4 a.m. Friday. The device ignited an exterior gate before Moreno-Gama ran from the scene, police said. Roughly an hour later, he allegedly went to OpenAI’s headquarters and made threats to burn down the building.
Officials say the suspect had expressed strong opposition to artificial intelligence. Court documents indicate Moreno-Gama wrote about what he believed were the dangers of AI and warned of humanity’s “impending extinction.” During a press conference, FBI San Francisco Acting Special Agent in Charge Matt Cobo said the attack appeared deliberate and carefully planned rather than spontaneous.
Federal agents also searched Moreno-Gama’s home in Spring, Texas, near Houston, on Monday morning. He is facing additional federal charges, including possession of an unregistered firearm and destruction of property using explosives. Although the federal criminal complaint does not specifically name Altman or OpenAI, both have confirmed they were the intended targets. No one was injured in the incident.
Authorities said that when Moreno-Gama was arrested Friday, he had a written document outlining his views against artificial intelligence and criticizing executives at major AI companies. The document also included statements about the perceived threat AI poses to humanity. Investigators say Moreno-Gama traveled from Texas to San Francisco before going to Altman’s home early Friday morning.
U.S. Attorney Craig Missakian said the investigation is still ongoing and that officials are examining whether the attack was meant to influence public policy or pressure government officials. If evidence supports that conclusion, prosecutors said they would pursue the case as an act of domestic terrorism and seek the maximum penalties available.
The document allegedly written by Moreno-Gama also contained threats directed at Altman. In it, he wrote that if he was going to encourage others to commit crimes, he needed to demonstrate his commitment by acting himself.
Groups that have raised concerns about the risks associated with artificial intelligence publicly condemned the attack. PauseAI said the suspect was not affiliated with the organization, though he had joined its Discord forum about two years ago and posted roughly three dozen messages there. According to the group, none of those messages directly called for violence, though one was considered ambiguous. Discord said it has since banned Moreno-Gama from the platform due to his actions outside the site.