Man accused of hurling Molotov cocktail at OpenAI CEO Sam Altman's San Francisco home

· Toronto Sun

A man has been arrested after a Molotov cocktail was hurled at the San Francisco home of OpenAI CEO Sam Altman.

The San Francisco Police Department said in an online statement that officers responded shortly after 4 a.m. to a residence in the North Beach area about a fire investigation.

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“At the scene, officers learned that an unknown male subject threw an incendiary destructive device at a home, causing a fire to an exterior gate,” police wrote on social platform X .

“The suspect then fled on foot. There were no injuries reported as a result of this incident.”

Police said officers then responded to a business approximately an hour later at the south end of the city for an unknown man who threatened to burn the building down.

Cops immediately recognized the suspect from a description of the earlier incident and arrested the individual, police said.

Charges are still pending against the 20-year-old-suspect, police added.

Company staff told of arrest

An OpenAI spokesperson said the alleged attack occurred at Altman’s home and threats were made at the tech company’s headquarters. A message was sent out to staff as well.

“At approximately 3:45am PT, an unidentified individual approached Sam’s residence and threw an incendiary device toward the property. The device landed nearby and extinguished. There were no injuries and only minimal damage was reported,” the message reads, reports tech culture magazine Wired .

“Shortly afterward, an individual matching the suspect’s description was contacted by security outside MB1,” which refers to OpenAI’s headquarters in the Mission Bay neighbourhood. “This person made threatening statements about the building.”

OpenAI spokesperson Kayla Wood said in an email to Wired that the organization is thankful that no one was injured.

“We deeply appreciate how quickly SFPD responded and the support from the city in helping keep our employees safe,” Wood wrote. “The individual is in custody, and we’re assisting law enforcement with their investigation.”

OpenAI is an artificial intelligence research company that developed and released the large language text model ChatGPT in November 2022, which prompted interest in generative AI.

History of protests and threats

This is not the first time the company has come under attack.

Last November, OpenAI locked down its offices and warned its staff following an alleged threat from an activist associated with the Stop AI group.

“Our information indicates that [name] from StopAI has expressed interest in causing physical harm to OpenAI employees,” an internal communications colleague wrote on Slack, Wired reported at the time .

“He has previously been on site at our San Francisco facilities.”

Over the past two years, protesters affiliated with the anti-AI movement have staged demonstrations outside AI company buildings including OpenAI and Anthropic.

Lawsuit over B.C. mass shooting

In addition, OpenAI is facing a lawsuit from a British Columbia family following the Tumbler Ridge mass shooting in February that left nine people dead including the perpetrator.

A ChatGPT account linked to the shooter was banned in June 2025 because of conversations with the chatbot.

The family of Maya Gebala, who was hospitalized in critical condition after the 12-year-old girl was shot in the head and neck, filed a lawsuit against OpenAI in March claiming that the company was aware the suspect, 18-year-old Jesse Van Rootselaar, had been planning the attack, but the company failed to alert Canadian authorities.

The company said it banned the individual but determined the account activity did not meet the higher threshold required for report it to police.

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