The Texas college student accused of throwing a Molotov cocktail at OpenAI CEO Sam Altman's mansion is an 'AI doomer' who called for 'Luigi-ing tech CEOs.'

Daniel Moreno-Gama, 20, spoke out against artificial intelligence in a podcast interview in January when he made the chilling remark referencing Luigi Mangione, who stands accused of shooting dead UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.

He noted in the interview with 'The Last Invention' podcast that following the assassination 'a lot of people were able to excuse' Mangione's alleged actions - which Moreno-Gama stressed his disagreed with.

'I understand the frustration with a person who might advocate for that, but it's not practical. It's not worth it,' he said in the interview, according to the Wall Street Journal. 

'Before we even think about violence, we need to exhaust all our peaceful means,' Moreno-Gama continued. 'I think sharing information, I think doing podcasts like this, that needs to come way before we even consider that.'

But San Francisco police have said Moreno-Gama threw the fire bomb at Altman's mansion just after 4am PST on Friday, before fleeing the scene on foot.

Less than an hour later, officers were called to OpenAI's headquarters on 3rd Street after a man allegedly threatened to burn down the building.

Police recognized the man as the same suspect from the Altman mansion incident and immediately took him into custody. No injuries were reported. 

The podcasters from media startup Longview had reached out to Moreno-Gama while working on an episode exploring the perspectives of 'AI doomers.'

Some 'doomers' believe we may need to consider violence to protect humanity from what they believe is a digital super-mind that could lead to our extinction.

They originally offered him anonymity in the interview, in which he used the alias 'Discord Dan,' but the producers decided to come forward to reveal Moreno-Gama's identity as the interviewee in Wednesday's episode following his arrest.

They said 'his own actions and online statements have since established a clear link between his pseudonym and his real identity.' 

In the podcast, released in an edited form on Wednesday, Moreno-Gama detailed how he became so against artificial intelligence. 

He recalled thinking ChatGPT was 'awesome' during his high school years because he could 'cheat on everything.'

But he said he began to learn about the dark side to AI by reading prominent critics like Eliezer Yudkowsky, who warned in a 2023 Time Magazine column that 'the most likely result of building a superhumanly-smart AI, under anything remotely like the current circumstances, is that literally everyone on Earth will die.'

'I was like, OK, I hope he's kind of wrong,' Moreno-Gama said in the interview, for which he used the alias 'Discord Dan.' 

'But over time, I realized very few of his main criticisms ever got refuted.'

By 2024, Moreno-Gama said he joined PauseAI, an online community that advocates for halting the development of some of the most powerful AI systems.

Maxime Fournes, PauseAI's CEO, said he joined the group's public Discord server and posted 34 messages, none of which she said 'contained explicit calls to violence.'

'We unequivocally condemn this attack and all forms of violence,' she told the Journal.

However, on another online forum called Stop AI, Moreno-Gama asked last year: 'Will speaking about violence get me banned?'

He then stopped posting after he was told 'yes.'

'Stop AI has always adhered to nonviolent activism,' the group said. 

But behind the scenes, Moreno-Gama allegedly wrote a manifesto that was described as a 'three-part series' listing other AI executives and their addresses.

It included a message to Altman himself, reading: 'If by some miracle you live, then I would take this as a sign from the divine to redeem yourself,' according to the Journal.

Yet Diamond Ward, Moreno-Gama's public defender, has argued that prosecutors overcharged her client, calling the incident a 'property crime at best.'

'It is unfair and unjust for the San Francisco District Attorney and the federal government to fearmonger and exploit this young man's vulnerability simply due to the high-profile status of the people involved,' she argued.

She also noted that her client has a history of autism and mental health issues, arguing his actions 'appear to be driven by an acute mental-health crisis, not a desire to harm.'

Moreno-Gama's parents echoed that sentiment, saying they have been trying to get him mental health treatment and were concerned about his well-being.

'He is a very caring person and has never been arrested before,' the parents said in a statement. 'Until very recently, he was working hard at a restaurant and attending college classes.' 

In his own statement, Altman, 40, acknowledged there are concerns about AI, but he said that shouldn't lead to violence.

'We should de-escalate the rhetoric and tactics,' he argued, after previously sharing a photo of his husband and child in an effort to deter any future attacks.

'Images have power, I hope. 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. 

Altman said that the Molotov cocktail bounced off the house. The bomb set an exterior gate on fire. 

'Words have power too. There was an incendiary article about me a few days ago,' Altman continued.

'Someone said to me yesterday they thought it was coming at a time of great anxiety about AI and that it made things more dangerous for me. I brushed it aside.

'Now I am awake in the middle of the night and pissed, and thinking that I have underestimated the power of words and narratives.'