Sam Altman Molotov attack suspect pleads not guilty to attempted murder
The suspect, arrested for throwing a Molotov cocktail at Sam Altman’s mansion and threatening to set fire and kill everyone inside OpenAI’s San Francisco headquarters last month, pleaded not guilty in court on Tuesday.
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The 20-year-old accused of firebombing Sam Altman’s home and threatening to burn down OpenAI headquarters pleaded not guilty Tuesday to attempted murder and arson charges.
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Defense attorneys argued the Texas college student was suffering a “mental health crisis” and had been “excessively overcharged.”
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A judge ordered a psych evaluation as prosecutors continue building their case around an alleged anti-AI manifesto.
Twenty-year-old Daniel Alejandro Moreno-Gama of Spring, Texas – who has been sitting in jail since his April 10th arrest after being denied bail – pleaded not guilty to state charges of attempted murder and attempted arson in a California courthouse on Tuesday.
Defense pushes mental health angle
The accused, wearing an orange uniform, did not speak; instead, San Francisco Deputy Public Defender Diamond Ward addressed the court to enter a not guilty plea – marking his second court appearance in the past week, the AP reported.
Moreno-Gama was arraigned in court on Friday on federal charges related to the case, which include possession of an unregistered firearm, and damage and destruction of property by means of explosives.
Ward on Tuesday reiterated claims that Moreno-Gama was in the throes of a “mental health crisis” and had been “excessively overcharged,” even suggesting prosecutors were trying to gain favor with the OpenAI chief, the AP said.
“Daniel is a kind, hard-working person who has been publicly advocating for peaceful measures to address the danger of AI on humanity,” Ward argued, asking the judge to grant a mental health evaluation for the 20-year-old community college student.
The judge, granting a court-ordered psych eval, scheduled another hearing later this month to go over the results, the news outlet said.
Before traveling from Texas to California to carry out the alleged "targeted attack on Mr. Altman," Moreno-Gama was said to have been living in a Houston suburb, attending classes, and working part-time at a local pizzeria.
The suspect’s parents, in a statement released shortly after the attacks, described their son as caring, said he had never harmed anyone, and expressed concern for his mental health.
"Our son Daniel is a loving person who has been suffering recently from a mental illness crisis. We have been trying our best to address these issues and get him effective treatment, and we are very concerned for his well-being."
OpenAI at center of attacks
Moreno-Gama was arrested for allegedly throwing "an incendiary destructive device” at OpenAI CEO Sam Altman’s $27 million compound in the swanky Russian Hill neighborhood of San Francisco, “causing a fire to an exterior gate," the San Francisco Police Department (SFPD) had reported at the time.
Not long after, in the early morning hours, police say Moreno-Gama showed up at OpenAI’s headquarters in the Mission Bay section of the city and tried to “break the glass doors of the building with a chair” while threatening to “burn down” the offices and “kill anyone inside.”
Recognizing the suspect from the earlier Molotov cocktail report, the SFPD arrested Moreno-Gama on the spot, who was said to have been motivated by his negative views on AI development.
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.
Meanwhile, in the days after the arrest, 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, adding that he was thankful no one was hurt in the attacks.
Anti-AI manifesto detailed violence
Prosecutors say the first section of the anti-AI manifesto, titled “Your Last Warning,” called for violence against CEOs and investors of AI companies – even including its own "kill list" of multiple chief executives and board members, along with their home addresses.
"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 the criminal complaint.
In the second section, titled “Some more words on the matter of our impending extinction,” Moreno-Gama discusses the “purported risk AI poses to humanity.”
The third section is addressed to what prosecutors refer to as “Victim 1” and states, “If by some miracle you live, then I would take this as a sign from the divine to redeem yourself…”
Moreno-Gama was also said to have been part of a Discord group run by PauseAI, a nonprofit seeking a temporary pause in the development of frontier AI models in an effort to reduce potential risks.
PauseAI has since put out a statement denouncing the violent attacks and is fully cooperating with authorities.
Separately, the US Attorney’s office in April had vowed to treat the case as “an act of domestic terrorism,” promising to prosecute the 20-year-old “to the fullest extent allowed by law.”
If convicted on the state charges, Moreno-Gama faces 19 years to life. If found guilty on both federal charges, he faces a total maximum of 30 years in prison.
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