The man suspected of throwing a Molotov cocktail at the San Francisco home of OpenAI boss Sam Altman previously mused about “Luigi’ing some tech CEOs” in an internet chat, according to a report.
Daniel Moreno-Gama’s chilling remark was a reference to Luigi Mangione, the accused killer of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, who was gunned down outside of a hotel in New York City in December 2024.
Mangione, 27, pleaded not guilty to the crime and became an unlikely folk hero in certain circles of the internet following the assassination.
According to The Wall Street Journal, Moreno-Gama, 20, used the phrase invoking Mangione in an online discussion with the producers of Longview’s The Last Invention podcast, on which he appeared in January under the pseudonym “Discord Dan” to discuss his opposition to the coming of artificial intelligence.
The Texas college student said in the interview that he did not advocate violence against tech bosses, commenting: “I understand the frustration with a person who might advocate for that, but it’s not practical. It’s not worth it.
“Before we even think about violence, we need to exhaust all our peaceful means. I think protesting, I think sharing information, I think doing podcasts like this, that needs to come way before we even consider that.”
He otherwise discussed his journey from a high schooler in awe of ChatGPT to his present stance as an anti-AI campaigner, saying he had been influenced by reading critics of the emerging technology, such as Eliezer Yudkowsky.
The writer warned in Time magazine in 2023 that “the most likely result of building a superhumanly smart AI, under anything remotely like the current circumstances, is that literally everyone on Earth will die.”
“I was like, ‘OK, I hope he’s kind of wrong,’ but over time, I realized very few of his main criticisms ever got refuted,” Moreno-Gama said, admitting he had become “annoying” in his zealotry but hitting out at the mockery of “AI doomers,” saying only ignorance was preventing other people from feeling as strongly about the subject as he does.
After the attack on Altman’s home on Friday, which came days after The New Yorker published an in-depth profile of the entrepreneur, airing criticisms of his leadership, investigators found a manifesto, allegedly belonging to Moreno-Gama, warning of the apocalyptic consequences of AI.
It contained a direct message to the CEO: “If by some miracle you live, then I would take this as a sign from the divine to redeem yourself…”
Altman himself responded by posting a rare photograph of his family on his blog in the hope of deterring any copycat attacks, “no matter what they think about me.” He also issued a statement appealing for critics to “de-escalate the rhetoric and tactics” while acknowledging their concerns about AI’s potential.
Moreno-Gama faces federal and California state charges over the attack, including attempted murder and arson, but has yet to enter a plea.
Diamond Ward, his public defender in the state case, has dismissed the incident as a “property crime, at best,” given that no one was harmed and the attacker succeeded only in setting an exterior security gate alight.
“It is unfair and unjust for the San Francisco district attorney and the federal government to fearmonger and exploit this young man’s vulnerability simply due to the high-profile status of the people involved,” she said.
The attorney pointed to her client’s history of autism and mental health issues, adding that the actions of which he has been accused “appear to have been driven by an acute mental health crisis, not a desire to harm.”
Moreno-Gama’s parents said they had been concerned about him and were seeking treatment, adding in a statement: “He is a very caring person and has never been arrested before. Until very recently, he was working hard at a restaurant and attending college classes.”
