Molotov cocktail attack on OpenAI boss Sam Altman's house. The author was detained by the police
A man has been arrested for allegedly throwing a Molotov cocktail at the home of OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and then threatening to set fire to the company's headquarters in San Francisco, CNBC reports.
“Fortunately, no one was injured,” an OpenAI spokesperson said in a statement.
According to a post on X from the San Francisco police, officers responded after an “incendiary device” fire broke out at Sam Altman's North Beach home around 4 a.m. local time. The device caused a fire at an access gate and the suspect fled on foot.
Threats at OpenAI headquarters
After about an hour, the police were also alerted about a man who threatened to set fire to the offices of the OpenAI company, being the same man suspected of the attack on Altman's home. The 20-year-old man was detained.
“We are very appreciative of the way the San Francisco Police Department responded and the City's assistance in keeping our employees safe. The individual has been detained and we are cooperating with the police in their investigation,” the company said.
The incident comes at a time when Altman and OpenAI are the protagonists of some controversies. In February, the company was in the media spotlight for its deal with the US Department of Defense after the Pentagon cut ties with rival company Anthropic. Activists left chalk messages near the headquarters of the two companies, specifically asking OpenAI employees to take a stand against the deal.
OpenAI and Anthropic are fighting for supremacy in the artificial intelligence market. Together they are valued at over a trillion dollars.
Altman, sued by Elon Musk
Elon Musk is also seeking the ouster of Sam Altman as CEO of OpenAI and Greg Brockman as chairman of the artificial intelligence company as part of a lawsuit due to go to court later this month.
Musk sued OpenAI in 2024, as well as Altman personally, alleging that the AI company he helped found nearly a decade ago was “seriously manipulated” and “misled” into donating $38 million. Musk claims that OpenAI has not followed through on its original commitment to remain a nonprofit organization.
Since then, the two sides have engaged in a public war of words, in addition to their legal dispute and growing trade rivalry.
“Plaintiff will seek an order removing Altman as a director on the board of the nonprofit OpenAI and removing both Altman and Brockman from their leadership roles in the commercial entity OpenAI,” Musk's lawyers said in the filing Tuesday.
“Removing the leadership of a charity is a common measure when those individuals fail to protect or fulfill its public mission,” the lawyers note.
