Police in San Francisco say a 20-year-old man was suspected of throwing a Molotov cocktail at OpenAI CEO Sam Altman’s home early Friday, setting an exterior gate on fire before running away. No one was hurt.
Officers went to the home shortly after 4 a.m. Friday for a fire investigation, police said. Less than an hour later, they were called to a business in another part of the city after a man reportedly threatened to burn down the building, and officers recognized him as the same suspect and detained him.
OpenAI said the home belongs to Altman and that the threats were made at the company’s headquarters. The company said it is assisting in the investigation. Police have not publicly identified the man, and charges had not yet been filed.
The case lands at a moment when Altman and the company behind ChatGPT are already under intense public scrutiny, but the immediate question now is straightforward: whether prosecutors turn the arrest into charges that match the seriousness of the fire and the later threat. For now, police say the suspect is in custody and the investigation is still moving.