The man accused of flying to San Francisco to try to save humanity from AI by tossing a Molotov cocktail at Sam Altman's house made a court appearance Tuesday and entered a plea of not guilty.
20-year-old Daniel Alejandro Moreno-Gama pleaded not guilty Tuesday to charges of attempted murder and attempted arson in connection with the April 10 incident in which he's accused of tossing a Molotov cocktail at the Russian Hill home of OpenAI CEO Sam Altman.
Prosecutors say that Moreno-Gama can be seen on surveillance video outside the home, and then a short while later also attempting some sort of break-in or vandalism at OpenAI's Mission Bay headquarters, where he was arrested holding a jug of kerosene.
Both Moreno-Gama's parents and his defense attorney say that he was suffering a mental health crisis at the time of the incidents.
As NBC Bay Area reports, Moreno-Gama did not speak at Tuesday's arraignment, and his attorney, public defender Diamond Ward, entered the not-guilty plea.
Ward tells the station that the case was over-charged, and that prosecutors are trying to "curry favor" with Altman by ignoring her client's mental-health challenges.
"Daniel is a kind, hard-working person who has been publicly advocating for peaceful measures to address the danger of AI on humanity," Ward tells NBC Bay Area, adding that his actions stemmed from "a mental health crisis and not any desire to harm."
The judge in the case granted a request from Ward for a mental health evaluation on Tuesday, and a follow-up hearing has been scheduled to discuss the results of that evaluation.
The parents of Moreno-Gama issued a statement following the crime saying that their son had "never harmed anyone," and he had been recently suffering from a mental-health breakdown. "We’ve been trying our best to address these issues and get him effective treatment,” the parents said, "and we are very concerned for his wellbeing."
Moreno-Gama lives in Spring, Texas, a suburb of Houston, and he reportedly flew to San Francisco last month with a written manifesto or similar document on his person discussing the "impending extinction" of humanity at the hands of artificial intelligence. Prosecutors say the document included a credible threat against Altman, specifically, and contained language encouraging others to continue his "work" and pursue other named targets.
Altman wrote a blog post after the incident sharing a photo of his husband and young son, saying he was seeking to evoke empathy at a time when others might be fomenting violence against him. Altman also suggested that a negative profile of him that had been published earlier that week in The New Yorker also may have played a role in Moreno-Gama's actions.
Altman added that while "people will do incredible things" with AI, "It will not all go well. [And] The fear and anxiety about AI is justified."
Separate from this state trial, Moreno-Gama is also facing federal charges, which include attempted property damage, destruction with an explosive, and possession of an unregistered gun.
No one was injured in either of the April 10 incidents, and Moreno-Gama's Molotov cocktail only struck a security gate at Altman's property, briefly lighting it on fire before security personnel extinguished it.
Previously: Molotov Cocktail Thrown at Sam Altman's House, Suspect Arrested Outside OpenAI Headquarters
