Sam Altman’s Home Firebombed, Then Shot At Days Later
A suspect was arrested after the firebombing of the gay tech CEO’s home, while a separate shooting days later remains under investigation.
The San Francisco home of OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has been targeted twice in recent weeks — in an attempted firebombing and a separate shooting incident.
At 3:45 a.m. on April 10, a man approached the gate of Altman’s home and hurled a lit Molotov cocktail at the residence before fleeing, surveillance footage shows.
The device bounced off the house and no one was harmed, Altman wrote on his blog. Security guards extinguished the flames before they could cause significant damage.
The suspect, 20-year-old Daniel Moreno-Gama, was arrested less than two hours later while allegedly attempting to break into OpenAI’s headquarters in San Francisco’s Mission Bay neighborhood.
Around 5 a.m., Moreno-Gama allegedly tried to smash the entrance doors of the company’s headquarters with a chair but was confronted by security guards. He then allegedly told guards he planned to burn the building and kill anyone inside. Officers with the San Francisco Police Department arrested him and recovered incendiary devices, a jug of kerosene, a lighter, and an anti-AI manifesto.
Moreno-Gama’s manifesto contained three sections. The first threatened to kill a list of AI CEOs, board members, and investors. The second described “our impending destruction” and warned of AI wiping out humanity. The final section, addressed directly to Altman, said that if he survived the Molotov cocktail attack, he should take it as a divine sign to redeem himself.
Moreno-Gama faces federal charges related to the alleged firebombing, including attempted destruction of property using explosives and possession of an unregistered firearm, which carry significant prison time if convicted.
He also faces multiple state charges tied to the incident at Altman’s home and the attempted break-in at OpenAI’s headquarters, including attempted murder and arson-related offenses. Prosecutors say he could face up to life in prison.
Two other individuals were arrested after allegedly firing shots from a car outside Altman’s home on April 12. Surveillance footage shows a Honda sedan passing by the residence.
Moments later, the car pulled up to the entrance of Altman’s property. The passenger appeared to fire a round from the window, with security officers reporting they heard a gunshot, according to a San Francisco Police Department report.
Police later identified the vehicle from its license plate and stopped the driver, arresting 25-year-old Amanda Tom and 23-year-old Muhamad Tarik Hussein on suspicion of negligent discharge of a firearm. They were later released and have not been formally charged. The San Francisco District Attorney’s Office said the investigation is ongoing.
On his blog, Altman, who is gay, addressed the attempted firebombing and called for de-escalation in the debate over artificial intelligence, sharing a photo of his husband and infant daughter.
“Images have power, I hope,” he wrote. “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.”
He also took issue with a New Yorker profile by Ronan Farrow that portrays both Altman and artificial intelligence in a negative light, suggesting — though not explicitly — that the article may have inspired the attacks. He defended his work, argued that AI can benefit humanity, and called for broader access to the technology.
“A lot of the criticism of our industry comes from sincere concern about the incredibly high stakes of this technology,” he wrote. “This is quite valid, and we welcome good-faith criticism and debate…. While we have that debate, we should de-escalate the rhetoric and tactics and try to have fewer explosions in fewer homes, figuratively and literally.”
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