A man suspected of throwing a Molotov cocktail at OpenAI CEO Sam Altman’s house in San Francisco is facing charges including attempted murder, officials announced, following an FBI raid on his Texas home Monday.
The suspect, identified as 20-year-old Daniel Moreno-Gama, is facing multiple charges, including attempted murder, attempted arson, possession of a destructive device in a public place, posession of a destructive device with the intent to injure or intimidate, exploding or igniting a destructive device with the intent to murder and attempted criminal threats, along with federal charges of attempted damage and destruction of property by means of explosives and possession of an unregistered firearm, officials said.
Moreno-Gama is accused of traveling from Spring, Texas, to San Francisco to target the OpenAI CEO’s home and carry out the attack, which took place early Friday morning. An exterior gate caught on fire, but no one was hurt, police said.
If convicted of the state charges, Moreno-Gama could face 19 years to life in prison, San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins said Monday during a news conference. If convicted on the federal explosives charge, he would face a mandatory minimum sentence of five years and up to 20 years in prison, and he could face up to 10 years if convicted on the federal possession charge, along with potential fines and supervised release.
Moreno-Gama was in state custody in California and is expected to make his first appearance in state court on Tuesday. A date has not yet been set for his first federal court appearance.
“This morning, the FBI and partners conducted an operation in Texas, related to a subject in custody allegedly in connection with the attack on Open AI CEO Sam Altman’s home on Friday morning. Thank you to our agents, intel teams, and partners for the coordination,” FBI Director Kash Patel wrote early Monday evening on social media. Fox News was the first to report the FBI raid.
According to an FBI affidavit, after allegedly throwing the Molotov cocktail, Moreno-Gama attempted to go to OpenAI’s headquarters, where he “retrieved a chair and used it to strike the glass doors.” According to on-site security, he said he came to the headquarters to “burn it down and kill anyone inside,” the affidavit states.
Federal prosecutors said San Francisco Police recovered a document that Moreno-Gama wrote, in which he allegedly claimed responsibility for attempting to kill Altman, argued that others should commit similar acts and had a list of other CEOs, board members and investors of AI companies, according to the affidavit.
Officers recovered multiple incendiary devices, a jug of kerosene and a lighter from Moreno-Gama when he was arrested, according to the affidavit.
OpenAI earlier said in a statement that the person who was suspected of throwing the Molotov cocktail had also allegedly made threats against the company’s headquarters, also in San Francisco.