April 11 (UPI) — Police arrested a 20-year-old man for allegedly throwing a Molotov cocktail at OpenAI CEO Sam Altman’s home in San Francisco.
Around 4:00 a.m. local time, the man reportedly threw the incendiary device at Altman’s house, causing a fire to a gate outside the home.
The man was arrested less than an hour later when he was allegedly attempting to burn down OpenAI’s offices, police said in a statement.
In a lengthy blog post on Friday night, Altman said that he was “underestimated the power of words and narratives,” after an actual incendiary device was hurled at his house following the publication of an article about him that he also called “incendiary.”
“We should de-escalate the rehtoric and tactics and try to have fewer explosions in fewer homes, figuratively and literally,” he wrote, having noted that “thankfully [the Molotov cocktail] bounced off the house and no one got hurt.”
Similarly, OpenAI said in a statement that nobody was hurt at the company’s offices and said they are assisting law enforcement with their investigation, CNN reported.
Altman, whose home is located in San Francisco’s Russian Hill neighborhood, about three miles from the OpenAI offices, is one of several tech industry CEOs who are behind the burgeoning artificial intelligence industry, The New York Times reported.
In his blog post, Altman said that he understands the debate around AI and how it is being used, and could be used in the future, and that he believes debates around its use are essential but should stop short of violence.
“I empathize with anti-technology sentiments and clearly technology isn’t always good for everyone,” Altman wrote. “We should have that debate.”
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