A Texas student allegedly tried to torch OpenAI after chatting about “Luigi’ing some tech CEOs” months before his arrest for attempting to murder OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman.
The Wall Street Journal says Daniel Moreno-Gama dropped the line in an internet chat with producers of “The Last Invention” podcast, who wanted him for an AI series.
In January, Moreno-Gama recorded an interview in which he described his slide from a curious internet nerd to an AI doom crusader, then tried to wave off the language as not literal.
Moreno-Gama said, “I understand the frustration with a person who might advocate for that, but it’s not practical. It’s not worth it.”
Authorities allege Moreno-Gama, 20, travelled from the Houston area to San Francisco last week, lobbed a Molotov cocktail at Altman’s home, then attacked OpenAI’s HQ entrance to burn it down.
The case lands in the middle of a brewing anti-corporate mood online, supercharged by attention on Luigi Mangione, the accused UnitedHealthcare chief executive killer, who has pleaded not guilty.
Only weeks ago, Chamel Abdulkarim, 29, was charged with starting a fire at a Kimberly-Clark warehouse in southern California, with prosecutors saying he moaned about wages and compared himself to Mangione.
There are elements of the case which might fill tech bros with fear.
Investigators in the OpenAI case say they found a manifesto, allegedly by Moreno-Gama, warning that AI would wipe out humanity, with a message to Altman: “If by some miracle you live, then I would take this as a sign from the divine to redeem yourself.”
Moreno-Gama faces federal and state charges, including attempted murder and arson, and he has not yet entered a plea. State public defender Diamond Ward said prosecutors overcharged him, calling it a “property crime, at best.”
“It is unfair and unjust for the San Francisco District Attorney and the federal government to fearmonger and exploit this young man’s vulnerability simply due to the high-profile status of the people involved,” Ward said.
Ward said Moreno-Gama has a history of autism and mental-health issues, adding that the actions “appear to have been driven by an acute mental-health crisis, not a desire to harm.”
Moreno-Gama’s parents said they have been trying to get him mental-health treatment and were worried about him.
“He is a very caring person and has never been arrested before,” they said in a statement.
Until very recently, he was working hard at a restaurant and attending college classes.”
The attack pushed Altman into a rare public family moment, posting a photo on his blog and saying it “might dissuade the next person from throwing a Molotov cocktail at our house, no matter what they think about me.”
In a statement, Altman said worries about artificial intelligence should not lead to violence.
“We should de-escalate the rhetoric and tactics,” he wrote.
