A Texas college student accused of attacking OpenAI CEO Sam Altman’s home and the company’s headquarters had previously discussed “Luigi’ing some tech CEOs” in online conversations, according to newly revealed messages.
The Wall Street Journal reports that Daniel Moreno-Gama, a 20-year-old college student from the Houston area, made casual references to Luigi Mangione, the accused UnitedHealthcare CEO killer, during an online conversation with producers of The Last Invention podcast, according to screenshots shared with the Wall Street Journal. The producers had reached out to interview him for a series focused on AI.
In January, Moreno-Gama participated in the podcast interview, describing his evolution from an internet enthusiast to someone deeply concerned about AI’s dangers. However, he clarified that his earlier comments about violence should not be interpreted literally, according to a recording shared with the Journal.
“I understand the frustration with a person who might advocate for that, but it’s not practical,” Moreno-Gama said during the interview. “It’s not worth it.”
Last week, authorities charged Moreno-Gama with traveling from Houston to San Francisco, where he allegedly threw a Molotov cocktail at Altman’s mansion and subsequently attacked the entrance of OpenAI’s headquarters with plans to burn down the building.
Breitbart News previously reported Moreno-Gama was motivated by a desire to prevent an “impending extinction” caused by AI:
Following Moreno-Gama’s arrest after the Friday attack, San Francisco Police Department officers found a document on him that outlined his intentions, according to a complaint filed in San Francisco federal court. In the document, Moreno-Gama stated his goal to kill Altman and warned of humanity’s “impending extinction” caused by AI.
According to police, the document’s first section, titled “Your Last Warning,” included Moreno-Gama’s statement that he “killed /attempted to kill” Sam Altman, the complaint said. It also contained the names and addresses of multiple other AI executives, board members and investors. A second section, titled “some more words on the matter of our impending extinction,” discussed what Moreno-Gama described as risks AI poses to humanity. He ended the document with a letter directly to Altman, writing that, “if by some miracle you live, then I would take this as a sign from the divine to redeem yourself.”
“A lot of people are going to understand,” Abdulkarim allegedly said, likening his actions to when “Luigi popped that m——,” according to the federal complaint.
Moreno-Gama faces both federal and state charges, including attempted murder and arson. He has not yet entered a plea. Diamond Ward, his public defender in the state case, argued that prosecutors have overcharged her client, characterizing the incident as “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,” Ward said.
Ward noted that Moreno-Gama has a history of autism and mental health issues, stating that his actions “appear to have been driven by an acute mental-health crisis, not a desire to harm.”
Moreno-Gama’s parents released a statement saying they had been attempting to secure mental health treatment for their son and were worried about his wellbeing. “He is a very caring person and has never been arrested before,” they said. “Until very recently, he was working hard at a restaurant and attending college classes.”
During the podcast interview, which was released in edited form by media startup Longview, Moreno-Gama recalled thinking ChatGPT was “awesome” during high school because he could “cheat on everything.”
Online, Moreno-Gama used the handle Butlerian Jihadist, a reference to a fictional conflict between humans and intelligent machines from the science fiction novel Dune. While he recorded the podcast under the pseudonym “Discord Dan,” the podcasters revealed his identity following recent events.
Andy Mills, Longview’s editor in chief, explained that the podcast had initially offered anonymity to Moreno-Gama, but “his own actions and online statements have since established a clear link between his pseudonym and his real identity.”
Maxime Fournes, PauseAI’s CEO, stated that Moreno-Gama joined the group’s public Discord server and posted 34 messages. “None of his messages contained explicit calls to violence,” Fournes said. “We unequivocally condemn this attack and all forms of violence.”
Breitbart News social media director and author Wynton Hall explains in his instant bestseller, Code Red: The Left, the Right, China, and the Race to Control AI, that conservatives must develop a plan to deal with the dramatic changes that AI has the potential to bring to many areas of life. Moving forward without this blueprint could allow people like Sam Altman to enact their progressive vision of AI instead of technology that benefits all Americans.
Read more at the Wall Street Journal here.
Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of AI, free speech, and online censorship.
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