Daniel Moreno-Gama, 20, has been accused of two counts of attempted murder alongside federal offences including possession of an unregistered firearm and attempted destruction of property using explosives after Sam, 40, was targeted in an incident linked by prosecutors to anti-artificial intelligence views.
The US justice department alleges Moreno-Gama targeted property connected to Sam, the head of OpenAI, which developed ChatGPT.
Authorities say the alleged attacks took place early on Friday (10.04.26), with one incident at Sam’s home and another at OpenAI’s headquarters.
No injuries were reported.
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said: “Violence cannot be the norm for expressing disagreement, be it with politics or a technology or any other matter.”
He added: “These alleged actions – which damaged property and could well have taken lives – will be aggressively prosecuted.”
According to a criminal complaint, Moreno-Gama is alleged to have set fire to an exterior gate at Sam’s home before fleeing on foot.
Prosecutors also allege he attempted to set fire to OpenAI’s offices about an hour later.
Security personnel reported he tried to strike glass doors with a chair.
Investigators said they recovered incendiary devices, a jug of kerosene and a lighter.
The complaint further alleges Moreno-Gama was carrying documents outlining opposition to artificial intelligence, including a section titled: “Some more words on the matter of our impending extinction.”
The documents allegedly stated: “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,” and included names and addresses of individuals linked to AI companies.
OpenAI confirmed to BBC the incident occurred at Sam’s home.
In a statement, the company said: “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.”
It added in its statement that “to ensure society gets AI right, we need to work through the democratic process” and said “we welcome a good faith debate”.
