Although hesitant to break his silence after a male suspect threw a Molotov cocktail at his San Francisco home, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman penned an emotional plea addressed to other potential attackers seeking to cause harm to his family. After an alleged early morning attack on his residence, the Big Tech leader published a blog post addressing the matter on Friday.
Warning that “words have power,” he appeared to link the shocking development to “great anxiety” about artificial intelligence. The OpenAI chief confirmed that no one got hurt during the incident.
According to the San Francisco Police Department’s statement on X, a 20-year-old man was arrested after the alleged attack at Altman’s home, which caused a “fire to one exterior gate.” Although the suspect is said to have initially fled on foot, the same man then allegedly went to OpenAI’s offices and threatened to “burn down the building.”
Sam Altman’s blog post after home attacked with Molotov cocktail
Sharing a photo of his husband and baby, he wrote in a blog post, “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.”
As per his account, the “first person” allegedly attacked his home at 3:45 in the morning. He then recalled an “incendiary article” he had encountered about himself a few days ago. “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,” he said, adding, “I brushed it aside.”
This is a developing story.