San Francisco police arrested a man on Friday for throwing a Molotov cocktail at the home of OpenAI Chief Executive Officer Sam Altman. No one was injured.
“Early this morning, someone threw a Molotov cocktail at Sam Altman's home and also made threats at our San Francisco headquarters. Thankfully, no one was hurt,” OpenAI spokesperson Jamie Radice said. “The individual is in custody, and we're assisting law enforcement with their investigation.”
Altman, 40, lives in San Francisco, and OpenAI is also headquartered in the city.
A spokesperson for the San Francisco Police Department said officers responded at around 4:12 a.m. to a fire investigation. At the scene, the officers learned “that an unknown male subject threw an incendiary destructive device at a home, causing a fire to an exterior gate.” The suspect, police said, fled on foot.
At 5:07 a.m., police responded to a call on the 1400 block of 3rd Street — in the vicinity of OpenAI's headquarters — as a 20-year-old male threatened to burn down a building.
“When officers arrived on scene, they recognized the male to be the same suspect from the earlier incident and immediately detained him,” the SFPD said in a statement.
OpenAI, which is preparing for a massive initial public offering, recently faced protests outside its San Francisco offices after it announced a deal with the Defense Department in February. Other groups have also protested on concerns around the rapid pace of AI development, job losses and its environmental impacts.
On Friday afternoon, Altman posted a blog entry referring to the incident and included a photo of his husband and young child. “Normally we try to be pretty private, but in this case I am sharing a photo in the hopes that it might dissuade the next person from throwing a Molotov cocktail at our house, no matter what they think about me,” he wrote.
In the post, Altman addressed concerns about his leadership at OpenAI, including his conflict with past board members and fears that artificial intelligence poses risks to society. “A lot of the criticism of our industry comes from sincere concern about the incredibly high stakes of this technology. This is quite valid, and we welcome good-faith criticism and debate,” he wrote.
“I empathize with anti-technology sentiments and clearly technology isn't always good for everyone,” Altman wrote. “But overall, I believe technological progress can make the future unbelievably good, for your family and mine.”
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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