Sam Altman has finally spoken publicly about the two attacks on his San Francisco home last month — and the timing is almost too on the nose.
In an appearance on the Core Memory podcast, the OpenAI CEO revealed that the night before the first attack, he was having dinner with colleagues. The conversation turned to the relentless negative press coverage, and someone tried to comfort him: "The pressure is intense, but in a way it's a good thing." Altman's reply? "At least nobody wants to kill me."
The next day, a Molotov cocktail was thrown at his front gate.
Altman said the experience "put everything in perspective" — nasty comments online are nothing as long as they stay online. He didn't go into detail about the attacks themselves, only noting that "there will be more of this kind of thing" before pivoting back to work.
Altman's home was hit twice in three days. On April 10, 20-year-old Daniel Moreno-Gama hurled a homemade incendiary device at the front gate; security guards quickly extinguished the fire and no one was hurt. Moreno-Gama was arrested near OpenAI's headquarters carrying an anti-AI manifesto and now faces charges including attempted murder and arson. Federal agents later found more materials at his home in Texas.
Two days later, on April 12, a Honda sedan drove past Altman's house and a passenger fired a gun. Two suspects — Amanda Tom and Muhamad Tarik Hussein — were arrested on suspicion of negligent discharge of a firearm. Police recovered three guns. Authorities say the two incidents are not connected.
For more on the first attacker's motives, read our earlier coverage.