Feds Charge 20-Year-Old in Alleged Plot to Kill OpenAI CEO After Molotov Attack
A manifesto urging violence against AI leaders has turned the case into a test of how authorities protect tech executives.
Overview
- Police say the suspect threw a Molotov cocktail at Sam Altman’s California home on Friday, then went to OpenAI’s San Francisco headquarters and tried to smash the glass doors with a chair.
- Officers arrested Daniel Moreno-Gama, 20, at the OpenAI building and found a gallon of kerosene, a lighter, and a document titled “Your Final Warning” that urged killings of AI executives and investors.
- Prosecutors say the writing spelled out an intent to kill Altman and closed with a line offering redemption only if the target somehow survived.
- Federal prosecutors have charged Moreno-Gama with destruction of property using explosives and possession of an unregistered firearm, and the acting attorney general condemned the violence and vowed a tough prosecution.
- The FBI is searching the suspect’s Texas home as part of an ongoing case that officials say was premeditated and driven by anti‑AI rhetoric, a development likely to sharpen security planning around high-profile tech figures.