A 20-year-old Texas man accused of firebombing OpenAI CEO Sam Altman's San Francisco home was carrying a manifesto that listed the names and home addresses of other artificial intelligence executives and investors, federal authorities said.
Daniel Moreno-Gama allegedly travelled from Spring, Texas, to San Francisco with the specific intent to kill Altman, throwing a Molotov cocktail at the tech executive's residence around 4 a.m. on April 10 before threatening to burn down OpenAI's headquarters less than an hour later.
The US Department of Justice said police recovered a document from Moreno-Gama titled 'Your Last Warning' that 'advocated against AI and for the killing and commission of other crimes against CEOs of AI companies and their investors.'
The manifesto listed names and addresses of 'board members and chief executive officers of AI companies and investors,' raising fears among federal authorities about potential copycat attacks targeting the technology sector.
FBI Treats Case as Potential Domestic Terrorism
'This was not spontaneous. This was planned, targeted, and extremely serious,' said Matt Cobo, the Federal Bureau of Investigation's acting special agent in charge for San Francisco. FBI agents raided Moreno-Gama's family home in The Woodlands area on Monday, spending several hours at the residence.
US Attorney Craig Missakian said the Justice Department would 'treat this as an act of domestic terrorism' if evidence shows Moreno-Gama 'executed these attacks to change public policy or to coerce government and other officials.'
The manifesto included an admission that Moreno-Gama 'killed/attempted to kill' Altman and urged others to join his effort. '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,' the suspect allegedly wrote in federal court documents.
Moreno-Gama emailed a version of the document to individuals at Lone Star College, his former school in Texas, on the same day as the attack.
900 Million Weekly ChatGPT Users Caught in the Crossfire
The attack comes as ChatGPT has reached 900 million weekly active users and 50 million paying subscribers, according to OpenAI's February 2026 announcement. The platform's rapid growth has made debate around AI safety increasingly charged, but federal officials made clear that violence is not an acceptable response.
'Violence cannot be the norm for expressing disagreement, be it with politics or a technology or any other matter,' said Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche.
San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins said her office would not release the full manifesto publicly because doing so would 'further Moreno-Gama's platform and stated intent to cause harm.'
Arraignment Delayed as Defence Claims Mental Health Crisis
Moreno-Gama appeared in San Francisco Superior Court on Tuesday wearing an orange jumpsuit, his gaze fixed downward throughout the brief hearing. Judge Kenneth Wine ordered him held without bail and postponed his arraignment to May 5.
His public defender, Diamond Ward, said her client is autistic and was experiencing 'an acute mental health crisis.' She called the charges 'a property crime, at best' and accused prosecutors of overcharging to 'gain support of a billionaire.'
Jenkins rejected that characterisation, saying Moreno-Gama carried out a 'targeted attack' and that prosecutors would act the same 'whether the victim was a billionaire or a CEO or any average San Franciscan.'
His parents said in a statement that their son has 'never harmed anyone' and 'recently began having mental health issues.'
Moreno-Gama faces two counts of attempted murder and attempted arson at state level, carrying penalties from 19 years to life in prison. Federal charges for possession of an unregistered firearm and attempted destruction of property by explosives could add another 30 years.
