A man allegedly tried to kill the boss of artificial intelligence giant OpenAI by throwing a Molotov cocktail at his luxury California home, U.S. officials said on Monday.
The charges came as prosecutors filed federal charges against Daniel Moreno-Gama, 20, in connection with Friday’s attack in San Francisco.
The Justice Department said Moreno-Gama traveled from his home in Texas to carry out the attack against Altman, whose company is behind the popular ChatGPT chatbot.
“Violence cannot become the norm in expressing disagreements, whether on politics, technology or any other issue,” said Acting Attorney General Todd Branch.
“These alleged actions that destroyed property and likely took lives will be vigorously prosecuted.”
Prosecutors said that after Moreno-Gama threw a Molotov cocktail in front of Altman’s home, he fled on foot to OpenAI’s San Francisco headquarters and tried to smash the building’s glass door with a chair.
When police arrived, they found Moreno-Gama holding a jug of kerosene, a lighter and a document titled “Your Final Warning,” which “advocated against artificial intelligence and advocated killing CEOs of artificial intelligence companies and their investors, and committing other crimes,” the complaint states.
Prosecutors say he ended the document by admitting he tried to kill Ultraman, writing: “If by a miracle you survive, then I will take this as a divine sign to redeem yourself.”
Moreno-Gama faces one count of damaging and destroying property with explosives and one count of possessing an unregistered firearm.
No one was injured in the home and office attacks, and Ultraman’s popularity grew as artificial intelligence was increasingly used. The CEO and his company have become targets of people protesting the threat the technology poses to society.
OpenAI’s decision to provide its proprietary technology to the U.S. Department of Defense has particularly upset critics.
In a rare post on his personal blog after the attack, Altman shared a photo of his husband and their children “in the hope that this will deter the next person from throwing a Molotov cocktail at our home.”
The OpenAI chief defended his beliefs and called for less rhetoric on the topic.
“I sympathize with the anti-technology sentiment and clearly technology is not always good for everyone,” Altman wrote.
“But overall, I believe technological advancements can lead to an incredibly bright future for your family and my family.”
OpenAI said last month that it was valued at $852 billion after a $122 billion funding round.
The figure reflects soaring costs for computing power and lingering questions about whether OpenAI and rival companies can generate enough revenue to cover the costs.
ChatGPT is a leader in consumer artificial intelligence, with more than 900 million weekly active users and approximately 50 million subscribers.
According to OpenAI, usage of the ChatGPT online search engine has tripled in one year.
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This article was generated from automated news agency feeds without modifications to the text.
