Updated – April 14th: The 20-year-old Texas man accused of attacking Sam Altman’s home with a Molotov cocktail was denied bail on Tuesday, as prosecutors pointed to violent anti-AI writings while his public defenders argued he was in a mental health crisis and being overcharged.

The US Department of Justice has now identified the suspect as 20-year-old Daniel Alejandro Moreno-Gama of Spring, Texas. Moreno-Gama faces multiple federal and state charges, including attempted murder, damage and destruction of property by means of explosives, and possession of an unregistered firearm.

After allegedly traveling to San Francisco “in order to kill the CEO” of a major AI company, a California judge on Tuesday granted prosecutors' request that Moreno-Gama be denied bail, citing the “public safety risk he poses."

A public defender argued prosecutors were overreaching, stating her client was experiencing a mental health crisis and that Moreno-Gama should be charged with "a property crime at best."

Moreno-Gama was arrested on Friday for allegedly throwing a Molotov cocktail at OpenAI CEO Sam Altman’s San Francisco home, as well as for making threats outside of the AI start-up's headquarters in the city’s Mission Bay neighborhood. OpenAI released a statement early Friday after the arrest.

"Thankfully, no one was hurt. We deeply appreciate how quickly SFPD responded and the support from the city in helping keep our employees safe," an OpenAI spokesperson said.

“The individual is in custody, and we're assisting law enforcement with their investigation," the company added, according to a report by NBC News.

Apparently, the unnamed man had thrown "an incendiary destructive device at a home, causing a fire to an exterior gate," the San Francisco Police Department (SFPD) said.

The suspect fled on foot after throwing the handmade bottle bomb, and his description was broadcast to all officers, the police said, describing the early morning response "to a North Beach residence regarding a fire investigation" in a statement on social media.

The call came in on April 10, 2026, at approximately 4:12 a.m. Pacific Time (PT), the SFPD said.

Threat follows near OpenAI headquarters

Shortly after the Molotov cocktail attack, at 5:07 a.m. Pacific Time, the SFPD said it responded to another incident "regarding an unknown male subject threatening to burn down” a building on the 1400 block of 3rd Street, the same street where OpenAI’s offices are located.

"Through the course of the investigation, officers developed probable cause to place a 20-year-old male under arrest," the SFPD said.

Neither Altman nor OpenAI headquarters were specifically mentioned in the police statement, but NBC said it had reviewed the police dispatch audio, in which a person was heard saying, “Someone threw a Molotov cocktail slash sticky bomb at the gate of Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI’s residence.”

Police said officers arriving on the scene recognized the 20-year-old man as "the same suspect from the earlier incident and immediately detained him."

Anti-AI motive comes into focus

According to the US Department of Justice complaint, after throwing the Molotov cocktail at Altman’s home and fleeing the scene, Moreno-Gama showed up at OpenAI’s headquarters and “attempted to break the glass doors of the building with a chair and stated that he had come to burn down the location and kill anyone inside.”

It’s now come to light that, besides carrying “additional incendiary devices, a jug of kerosene, and a blue lighter,” police discovered Moreno-Gama was in possession of a manifesto-type document admitting the attempted murder and requesting supporters join his anti-AI movement against all AI executives.

The document – which he emailed to peers at the Lone Star Community College he attended in Texas – also contained a personal letter to Altman, as well as the names and addresses of multiple AI CEOs and investors, the DoJ said.

“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,” said US Attorney Craig Missakian.

Motivated by his negative views on AI development, Moreno-Gama was allegedly active in the Discord server, PauseAI – a non-profit known for its stance on temporarily halting frontier AI systems to reduce potential risks – which has since publicly condemned the attacks.

Besides the two federal charges, Moreno-Gama also faces 11 state charges, including two counts of attempted murder – one tied to Altman, the other to a security guard. If convicted on all counts, he could face up to 30 years in prison federally, and 19 years to life on the state charges.

"It is unfair and is unjust for the San Francisco District Attorney and the federal government to fear monger and to exploit the mental illness of a vulnerable, young man by turning a vandalism case into an attempted murder, life exposure case to gain support of a billionaire, and to get political points at the expense of true justice for everyone involved," San Francisco Deputy Public Defender Diamond Ward said in court on Tuesday, after the judge ordered Moreno-Gama held without bail.

Moreno-Gama is expected back in court for an arraignment on May 5th.

Altman’s Russian Hill home in focus

The OpenAI CEO and cofounder lives in a $27 million compound he purchased in 2020, located in the swanky Russian Hill neighborhood of the city – considered the gold coast of San Francisco, and a favorite of Silicon Valley billionaires for its panoramic views of the bay.

Altman maintains residence at the San Francisco mansion during the week, according to Business Insider, opting to spend the weekends at his $15 million-dollar ranch in Napa Valley.

OpenAI’s corporate headquarters are at 1455 3rd Street in Mission Bay, where the company moved in 2023 as part of its expansion in San Francisco.

According to Wired, which first reported the arrest, OpenAI's corporate security team alerted employees about the incident and subsequent arrest.

Randomly, in a completely separate incident on Sunday, two people were arrested after leaning out of a car window in a drive-by shooting aimed at the CEO’s hill-top mansion.

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