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Firebomber Attacks AI Billionaire’s Home

The suspect also allegedly threatened to burn down OpenAI’s headquarters.

OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman’s San Francisco home was allegedly the target of a Molotov cocktail attack Friday by a man who also threatened to burn down OpenAI’s headquarters. The San Francisco Police Department said in a statement that, after officers responded to “a fire investigation” at around 4:12 a.m. Friday, they determined that a man had thrown “an incendiary destructive device at a home, causing a fire to an exterior gate.” There were no injuries, OpenAI’s security team said in a memo to employees, Wired reported. The suspect fled, but around an hour later police were called to OpenAI’s headquarters, where they said they found “an unknown male subject threatening to burn down the building.” Officers said it was the same person, described only as a 20-year-old male. OpenAI said in a statement, “We deeply appreciate how quickly SFPD responded and the support from the city in helping keep our employees safe. The individual is in custody, and we’re assisting law enforcement with their investigation.” Charges are pending. Altman, 40, has not commented publicly on the incident. A tech billionaire, Altman co-founded OpenAI, the artificial intelligence research organization, in 2015 and became CEO four years later.