Texas Man Charged With Attempted Murder of Sam Altman

(Bloomberg) -- Local and federal prosecutors filed attempted murder and other criminal charges against the man arrested Friday for allegedly throwing a Molotov cocktail at the home of OpenAI Chief Executive Officer Sam Altman. 

San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins said local prosecutors are charging Daniel Moreno-Gama, 20, with attempted murder, attempted arson and possession of a destructive device, among other charges. No one was injured in the attack.

“We interpret this behavior for just what it is: an attempt on Mr. Altman’s life and an extreme danger to those around him and those who work for his company,” Jenkins said Monday during a press conference. “My office will prosecute this case to the fullest extent of the law.”

Moreno-Gama’s arraignment in state court was scheduled for Tuesday afternoon.

The US Department of Justice, meanwhile, charged Moreno-Gama with possession of an unregistered firearm and attempted damage and destruction of property by means of explosives, according to a criminal complaint filed in federal court in San Francisco. 

Law enforcement officers recovered a document from the man at the time of his arrest that detailed his opposition to artificial intelligence companies and appeared to target various leaders, according to the federal complaint.

The document was divided into three parts. The first was titled “Your Last Warning” and included a list of the names and addresses of board members, chief executive officers and investors of various AI companies. No identifying information was included in the complaint. 

The second part detailed the author’s views that AI poses a risk to humanity, and the third part was a letter addressed to Altman, in the event that he survived the attack. The complaint included a brief excerpt from the letter: “If by some miracle you live, then I would take this as a sign from the divine to redeem yourself…”

Police said they were called to Altman’s residence in San Francisco early Friday morning, after a man threw an incendiary device at the home and caused a fire at an exterior gate on the property, before fleeing on foot. Later that morning, the same individual threatened to burn down OpenAI’s headquarters in a different part of the city.

The federal criminal complaint filed by the Department of Justice does not name Altman or OpenAI but both have confirmed they were the targets of the attack.

Craig Missakian, US Attorney for the Northern District of California, stressed that the investigation into the incident is ongoing and the charges against Moreno-Gama could change.

“If the evidence shows that Mr. Moreno-Gama executed these attacks to change public policy or coerce government or other officials, we will treat this as an act of domestic terrorism,” Missakian said in a statement.

OpenAI, which is preparing for a massive initial public offering, recently faced protests outside its San Francisco offices after it announced a deal with the Defense Department in February. Other groups have also protested on concerns around the rapid pace of AI development, job losses and its environmental impacts.

Altman posted a blog entry in response to the incident, writing that he welcomes valid criticism and debate about the “high stakes of this technology.”

“I empathize with anti-technology sentiments and clearly technology isn’t always good for everyone,” Altman wrote. “But overall, I believe technological progress can make the future unbelievably good, for your family and mine.”

(Updates with arraignment schedule. An earlier version of the story corrected spelling of San Francisco.)

More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com

©2026 Bloomberg L.P.