The suspect in the attack on the home of OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and the company’s headquarters was held without bail on Tuesday in California Superior Court, the Associated Press reported.
His arraignment on charges of attempted murder and attempted arson was moved to May 5, according to the AP. The San Francisco district attorney’s office had requested Moreno-Gama be held without bail because of the risk the office said he poses to public safety.
But his attorney, San Francisco Deputy Public Defender Diamond Ward, said he was experiencing an “acute mental health crisis.” She said her client has been overcharged for “a property crime, at best,” according to the wire service.
California and federal authorities allege Daniel Moreno-Gama, 20, traveled from Texas to San Francisco, where they say he threw an incendiary device at Altman’s home early Friday morning. Then he allegedly went to OpenAI‘s offices and attempted to break down the doors with a chair, threatening to “kill anyone” inside, according to a criminal complaint filed Monday by the FBI.
San Francisco police said he was arrested outside the company’s offices carrying more incendiary materials and an anti-AI manifesto he had written that called for the killing of AI CEOs and their investors. No one was injured.
Moreno-Gama faces both state and federal charges, including attempted murder – both of Altman and the security guard who was at his house the night of the attack – and attempted arson on the state level and, on the federal level, charges related to an unregistered firearm and attempted damage and destruction of property by means of explosives.
He could also face charges related to domestic terrorism, Craig Missakian, US Attorney for Northern District of California, said earlier this week. The FBI raided Moreno-Gama’s home in Texas on Monday, CNN affiliate KHOU reported.
In a statement on Monday after the charges were filed, an OpenAI spokesperson said that while the company welcomes “a good faith debate” on integrating AI, “there is no place in our democracy for violence against anyone, regardless of the AI lab they work at or side of the debate they belong to.”
“We are grateful to law enforcement for their quick response and that no one was hurt,” the spokesperson added.
