Molotov Cocktail Attack Targets Sam Altman Home in San Francisco

A Molotov cocktail was thrown at Sam Altman’s San Francisco home and threats were also made at OpenAI’s headquarters, turning a high-profile address in Russian Hill into the center of a fast-moving criminal investigation. OpenAI said no one was injured and that the suspect was already in custody after the April 10 attack.

The house sits below the famous crooked stretch of Lombard Street, placing the incident in one of San Francisco’s most recognizable and affluent neighborhoods. That detail gave the case an immediate public-safety jolt: this was not a random break-in or vandalism complaint, but an apparent targeted attack aimed at one of the most visible figures in artificial intelligence.

Subsequent court filings identified the suspect as 20-year-old Daniel Moreno-Gama of Spring, Texas. Authorities said Moreno-Gama traveled from Texas to California before the attack and targeted Altman because of hostility toward artificial intelligence technology. Investigators also said he was captured on video surveillance outside Altman’s home, giving the case a clear documentary trail as detectives moved in.

When Moreno-Gama was arrested, police recovered multiple incendiary devices, kerosene and a lighter. That evidence, paired with the device thrown at the gate of Altman’s residence and the threats at OpenAI’s headquarters, pushed the case beyond a simple property crime and into the territory of an alleged planned assault with ideological overtones. San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins said prosecutors charged Moreno-Gama with attempting to kill Altman and a security guard at the residence.

Federal prosecutors added their own case. The U.S. Department of Justice said Moreno-Gama was charged with attempted damage and destruction of property by means of explosives and possession of an unregistered firearm. San Francisco prosecutors separately said he was charged with attempted murder.

The threat to Altman’s home did not stand alone for long. Days later, authorities reported a separate shooting at the same residence, and two people were arrested in that incident. The back-to-back cases intensified concern around the security of AI leaders and the people around them, especially when anger about technology appears to spill from online grievance into real-world violence.

Moreno-Gama’s public defender said he has autism and was in an acute mental health crisis, a detail that may become part of later court proceedings. For now, the case has already landed as a stark warning: the backlash around AI is no longer confined to debate, and one of its most recognizable names was forced to absorb the threat at his own front door.