Gunfire erupts at Sam Altman’s home in second attack this week
Sam Altman’s San Francisco home has been targeted twice in recent days by gunfire and a Molotov cocktail attack.
Sam Altman’s San Francisco home has been targeted twice in recent days by gunfire and a Molotov cocktail attack.
- Sam Altman's San Francisco home was targeted twice in 4 days. It was hit by a Molotov cocktail and a drive-by shooting, marking a rapid escalation in threats against the OpenAI CEO.
- Amanda Tom, 25, and Muhamad Tarik Hussein, 23, in connection with the shooting, after surveillance cameras captured their vehicle's license plates.
- Daniel Alejandro Moreno-Gama, 20, detained for the Molotov cocktail attack, is facing eight charges.
- While no official motive has been confirmed, the Molotov cocktail suspect may have been driven by anti-AI sentiment.
Most recently, on Sunday, bullets ripped towards the OpenAI CEO’s compound in San Francisco.
Altman’s $27 million hilltop residence sits in the city’s ultra-wealthy Russian Hill enclave.
Surveillance footage shows that around 1:40 a.m., a Honda sedan pulled up near Altman’s residence after circling the premises, the San Francisco Standard reported with information from the San Francisco Police Department (SPFD).
More from Cybernews
Sainsbury’s installs more facial rec tech in stores: Should shoppers be worried?
"Phantom squatting” uses AI hallucinated domains for cyber attacks
What they’re doing to gamers is a robbery in broad daylight
Irish parliament expands Microsoft use, despite the EU’s efforts to ditch it
Can government AI actually scrub UAP footage from the internet?
The EU and Apple CEO Tim Cook held "constructive" talks after their Siri AI dispute in Europe
A passenger was seen leaning out of the window and firing a shot toward the Lombard Street side of Altman’s home. Security guards at the residence reported hearing a gunshot.
Reportedly, surveillance cameras present in the area captured the vehicles' license plates. Authorities later arrested two suspects, identified as Amanda Tom, 25, and Muhamad Tarik Hussein, 23.
Is Sam Altman under attack?
The recent incident was the second attack attempt on Altman in less than four days. On April 10th, a Molotov cocktail was thrown into Altman’s San Francisco residence at around 3:40 a.m.
The attack caused a fire at an exterior gate, which security guards at the property extinguished. A 20-year-old Texas man, Daniel Alejandro Moreno-Gama, was arrested shortly after.
Moments after the Molotov cocktail incident, at 5:07 a.m. Pacific Time, the San Francisco Police Department reported responding to a separate call involving an unidentified man who allegedly threatened to set fire to a building on the 1400 block of 3rd Street, where OpenAI’s offices are located.
Police said officers arriving on the scene recognized the 20-year-old man "to be the same suspect from the earlier incident and immediately detained him." The suspect is facing a total of eight charges, that include arson of an inhabited structure or property and attempted murder, a total of eight charges.
After the Molotov cocktail attack, Altman opened up in a personal blog, posting a picture of his husband and son.
“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.
Anti-AI sentiment
Authorities have not confirmed a motive of Moreno-Gama, but anti-AI sentiment could be a possible factor. Reportedly, the suspect participated in a Discord server critical of AI development.
The server belongs to PauseAI, a nonprofit advocating for a temporary halt on frontier AI systems and efforts to reduce their potential risks.
PauseAI publicly condemned the incident, stating on its website that “violence against anyone is antithetical to everything we stand for.” The organization also said the suspect had joined its Discord server about two years ago.
PauseAI condemned the event in a public statement. According to PauseAI, Moreno-Gama made 34 posts in the server, none of which included “explicit calls to violence.”
“He had no role in PauseAI, participated in no campaigns, attended no events, and received no support from us,” the NGO said. After learning about the attack, the organization said it had banned him from the server.
A moderator initially began deleting his messages following news of the incident, but paused after realizing they could be relevant to an ongoing investigation.
Suspect had a CEO "kill list"
According to authorities, Moreno-Gama was carrying what appeared to be a manifesto-style document when he was arrested.
The first section, titled “Your Last Warning” and attributed to him, reportedly takes a strongly anti-AI stance and contains calls for violence against CEOs of artificial intelligence companies and their investors. It also includes a list of names and addresses that are alleged to belong to several executives and financiers.
"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 wrote, according to authorities.
Moreno-Gama ended the document with a letter addressed to the victim CEO, writing, “If by some miracle you live, then I would take this as a sign from the divine to redeem yourself…”
Law enforcement later found that on the same day as the comitted attacks, Moreno-Gama also sent an email containing a version of the document to staff at his former college in Texas.
Daniel Moreno-Gama made his first court appearance on state charges on Tuesday. He is facing up to 20 years in prison.
Unlock more exclusive Cybernews content on YouTube.