April 13 (Reuters) – A Texas man was charged with hurling a Molotov cocktail nL4N40T1GB at the home of OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and attempting to set fire to the AI firm’s headquarters.
Daniel Moreno-Gama, 20, was captured on surveillance video throwing an incendiary device outside Altman’s San Francisco residence, according to a Federal Bureau of Investigation affidavit filed in federal court on Monday.
They said Moreno-Gama was carrying a self-authored “anti-AI” document when the San Francisco Police Department arrested him.
According to the FBI, the document Moreno-Gama wrote – which was cited as evidence of motive – contained threats directed at Altman.
“We are only at the beginning of this investigation, but if the evidence shows that Mr. Moreno-Gama executed these attacks to change public policy or to coerce government and other officials, we will treat this as an act of domestic terrorism and together with our law enforcement partners prosecute him to the fullest extent allowed by law,” U.S. Attorney Craig Missakian said in a statement.
OpenAI faces growing scrutiny for its role in national security, including criticism of a proposed deal with the U.S. government to allow its artificial intelligence technology to be used in classified military operations.
Moreno-Gama is charged with attempted damage and destruction of property by means of explosives and possession of an unregistered firearm.
Police said he traveled from Texas to California before carrying out the attacks and they recovered multiple incendiary devices, kerosene and a lighter at the time of his arrest.
Moreno-Gama told security personnel at the company’s headquarters that he intended to burn the building and harm the people inside, according to court records.
If convicted, he faces a mandatory minimum sentence of five years and up to 20 years in prison on the explosives charge, and up to 10 years in prison on the unregistered firearm charge, court filings showed.
(Reporting by Harshita Mary Varghese in Bengaluru; Editing by Pooja Desai)
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