Someone tried to firebomb Sam Altman’s house on a Friday morning. Two days later, someone else fired a gun at it. Three people are now in custody, and federal prosecutors are using words like “domestic terrorism.” Whatever you think about AI, about OpenAI, or about Altman himself, this is a line that got crossed — twice — in less than a weekend.
The First Attack: A Molotov Cocktail at 3:45 A.M.
It was still dark on the morning of Friday, April 10, 2026, when surveillance cameras captured a figure outside Altman’s Russian Hill home in San Francisco. At roughly 3:45 a.m., the man allegedly threw an incendiary device — a Molotov cocktail — at the property’s exterior gate. The homemade bomb bounced off and started a small fire on the gate, which security personnel at the residence quickly put out. Nobody was hurt. Altman’s $27 million property, which he’s acquired in phases since 2020, sits on a stretch of one of the most famous streets in San Francisco.
The suspect didn’t disappear into the night. About an hour after the attack on Altman’s home, he showed up at OpenAI’s headquarters in the Mission Bay neighborhood, roughly four miles south. He allegedly tried to smash the building’s glass doors with a chair and made threats to burn the place down. Security at the office called police. When officers arrived, they recognized the man from the surveillance footage taken at Altman’s house earlier that morning. He was taken into custody without a struggle.
Who Is Daniel Moreno-Gama?
The suspect is Daniel Alejandro Moreno-Gama, a 20-year-old from the Spring, Texas area — a suburb in Montgomery County just north of Houston. According to law enforcement, Moreno-Gama traveled from the Houston area to San Francisco specifically to carry out the attack. This wasn’t some random act. FBI Acting Special Agent in Charge Matt Cobo put it plainly at a press conference: “This was not spontaneous. This was planned, targeted and extremely serious.”
When officers arrested Moreno-Gama, they found kerosene in his backpack, along with additional incendiary devices, a lighter, and — critically — an unregistered firearm. They also recovered a document that laid out his intentions. In it, Moreno-Gama allegedly expressed his desire to kill Altman, whom federal filings refer to only as “Victim-1.” The document warned about humanity’s “impending extinction” at the hands of AI. One passage read: “If I am going to advocate for others to kill and commit crimes, then I must lead by example and show that I am fully sincere in my message.”
Perhaps most alarming: the document also included a list. Names and home addresses of other AI executives, board members, and investors at multiple companies. A kill list, essentially.
The Second Attack: A Drive-By Shooting on Sunday
Moreno-Gama was already in custody when the second attack happened. At about 1:40 a.m. on Sunday, April 12 — less than 48 hours after the firebombing — a Honda sedan rolled slowly past Altman’s property. Surveillance cameras captured it stopping briefly in front of the Lombard Street side of the home. A passenger extended an arm out the window and fired a single gunshot at the residence. Compound security staff heard it clearly.
Police arrested two people in connection with the shooting: Amanda Tom, 25, and Muhamad Tarik Hussein, 23. Both were booked on suspicion of negligent discharge of a firearm. As of mid-April, investigators were still looking into whether the Sunday shooting was connected to the Friday attack or whether it was a separate incident — potentially a copycat scenario. No injuries were reported in either attack.
The Charges: Attempted Murder and a Possible Terrorism Label
On Monday, April 13, San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins announced charges against Moreno-Gama: two counts of attempted murder and nine additional charges including arson and possession of an incendiary device. Jenkins didn’t hold back. “We interpret this behaviour for just what it is: An attempt on Mr. Altman’s life and an extreme danger to those around him,” she told reporters. “My office will prosecute this case to the fullest extent of the law.”
Moreno-Gama also faces federal charges: attempted damage and destruction of property by means of explosives, and possession of an unregistered firearm. But it could get even more serious. Federal prosecutors warned that if evidence shows Moreno-Gama “executed these attacks to change public policy or to coerce government or other officials,” the case could be treated as an act of domestic terrorism. He faces potential life imprisonment.
On that same Monday, the FBI raided a home in The Woodlands area near Houston that was connected to Moreno-Gama. FBI Houston confirmed the activity was “court-authorized” but provided no further details about what was found or whether additional arrests were made in Texas.
Altman Responds With a Blog Post and a Family Photo
Altman published a blog post on Friday evening — the same day as the firebombing. He included something unusual for a man who generally keeps his personal life guarded: a photo of his husband and their child. He acknowledged that criticism of AI is often driven by “sincere concerns about the incredibly high stakes” of the technology. But he also drew a line. “While we have that debate, we should de-escalate the rhetoric,” Altman wrote, “and try to have fewer explosions in fewer homes, figuratively and literally.”
The timing of the post was interesting. Just three days before the attack, on April 7, The New Yorker had published a massive profile of Altman by Ronan Farrow and Andrew Marantz. It was based on more than 100 interviews and internal documents, and the picture it painted was not flattering. Sources described Altman as having “a relentless will to power.” One anonymous board member called it “a sociopathic lack of concern for the consequences that may come from deceiving someone.” Altman acknowledged the article obliquely, saying someone had warned that its publication “at a time of great anxiety about AI” could make things “more dangerous” for him.
Online Anti-AI Writings and a Personal Substack
Moreno-Gama reportedly maintained a personal Substack where he posted anti-AI writings, including predictions that AI would cause human extinction. The physical document he was carrying when arrested echoed and expanded on these themes. In it, he addressed “Victim 1” directly: “If by some miracle you live, then I would take this as a sign from the divine to redeem yourself.”
That a 20-year-old could radicalize himself into attempted murder over AI might sound hard to believe if you haven’t been paying attention to what’s been happening online. But a growing body of anti-AI commentary has been circulating on social media platforms, with some posts openly naming executives and referencing their home addresses. OpenAI, for its part, put out a measured statement: “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.”
The Broader Pattern Nobody Can Ignore
The attacks on Altman’s home didn’t happen in a vacuum. Anti-AI sentiment has been building for years, and it’s coming from a lot of different directions. Writers and illustrators say AI was trained on their work without permission. Voice actors say they’re being replaced. Communities near planned data centers are fighting back against facilities that eat up electricity and water. Earlier in April 2026, someone fired at the home of an Indianapolis city council member 13 times and left a note reading “No data centers” after the official expressed support for a data center project. A town of 12,000 people near St. Louis voted out every single incumbent on its town council after they approved a data center project.
Economists are drawing comparisons to past periods of upheaval. Aleksandar Tomic at Boston College compared the current moment to the Second Industrial Revolution more than a century ago: “Technology is moving really fast. A lot of people are feeling very anxious, but the institutions are lagging.” Meanwhile, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei has predicted that half of all white-collar jobs will eventually be eliminated by AI — the kind of statement that doesn’t exactly calm anyone down.
Security for Tech Executives Has Changed Overnight
This is the new reality for people running major tech companies. Security expert John Orloff of Jensen Hughes told reporters that since the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in late 2024, business leaders have become far more willing to accept serious security protocols — personal drivers, surveillance teams, the works. “Ultimately, the CEO is the person held responsible for decisions made by the company,” Orloff said. “People watching from the outside of the business put the blame squarely on the shoulders of the CEO.”
One security expert pointed out that Altman has homes in San Francisco, Napa, Hawaii, and potentially five or six locations total — with full addresses findable online. That’s a huge vulnerability. At the time of the attack, OpenAI was actively hiring an industrial security lead in San Francisco, according to a job listing on its website. A little late, maybe, but the posting tells you where their heads were already at.
What Happens Next
Moreno-Gama is facing potential life in prison. The FBI is still investigating his background, his connections, and whether anyone helped him plan the attack. The two suspects from Sunday’s shooting — Tom and Hussein — are facing their own charges, and the investigation into any link between the two attacks is ongoing. Anti-AI group Stop AI publicly denied any involvement and stated it “does not condone any violence whatsoever.”
What’s clear is that the debate over artificial intelligence has moved from Twitter threads and congressional hearings to somebody’s front door. Three suspects arrested, two attacks in under 48 hours, a kill list of AI executives, and a district attorney promising the fullest possible prosecution. The question isn’t really whether anti-AI anger is real — it obviously is. The question is what comes after this.
