Luigi Mangione-inspired copycat puts tech leaders Elon Musk, Jensen Huang on alert

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman was not the only tech leader on the radar of the man now accused of trying to kill him.

Before his arrest, Daniel Moreno-Gama, a 20-year-old college student from Texas, had already floated the idea of going after other major names in the industry, with Elon Musk, Peter Thiel, Alex Karp, and Jensen Huang making the list.

In an online chat months before the alleged attack, Daniel allegedly suggested “Luigi’ing some tech CEOs,” using a reference to Luigi Mangione, the man accused in the killing of the UnitedHealthcare CEO, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Prosecutors say Daniel traveled from the Houston area to San Francisco, threw a Molotov cocktail at Sam’s mansion, then went to the entrance of OpenAI’s headquarters and tried to set the place on fire. Authorities say he meant to burn the building down.

The man now faces both federal and state charges, including attempted murder and arson. He has not entered a plea. Diamond Ward, his public defender in the state case, said prosecutors went too far and called the case a “property crime, at best.”

Podcast interview captured Daniel Moreno-Gama turning from ChatGPT fan into anti-AI crusader

The online chat that raised fresh questions came out of contact with producers of “The Last Invention” podcast, who wanted Daniel for a series on AI.

In January, Daniel had sat for an interview and described how he went from being an internet kid who liked new tech to someone consumed by the threat he believed AI is to humanity.

That interview, released in edited form Wednesday by media startup Longview, also showed how Daniel’s views on OpenAI had changed over time. He said that during high school, he thought ChatGPT was “awesome” because he could “cheat on everything.”

Later, his tone hardened. Online, Daniel used the handle Butlerian Jihadist, a name pulled from Dune, the science fiction story about a war between humans and thinking machines. For the podcast, he used the name Discord Dan.

After the alleged attack, the podcast team dropped the shield of anonymity. Andy Mills, Longview’s editor in chief, said the team had first agreed not to name Daniel. That changed after the San Francisco case.

Andy said “his own actions and online statements have since established a clear link between his pseudonym and his real identity.” The Journal claims it independently confirmed Daniel’s identity.

Investigators say they also found a manifesto tied to Daniel in the OpenAI case. The document warned that AI would destroy humanity. It also contained a message aimed directly at Sam. It read, “If by some miracle you live, then I would take this as a sign from the divine to redeem yourself…”

Sam Altman’s own words on AI danger drew new scrutiny after the alleged attack

As the case unfolded, more attention fell on Sam’s long record of talking about AI risk. When he helped launch OpenAI in 2015, Sam Altman told CNN he wanted to help guide the technology instead of standing back and fearing what it could become.

He said, “I sleep better knowing I can have some influence now.” That line has resurfaced as the company and its chief executive face growing pressure over how powerful these systems have become.

Sam had also spoken before about preparing for disaster. In a 2016 profile in The New Yorker, he said, “I prep for survival,” and included “AI that attacks us” on his list of possible threats. He added, “I have guns, gold, potassium iodide, antibiotics, batteries, water, gas masks from the Israeli Defense Force, and a big patch of land in Big Sur I can fly to.”

And just last week, Sam said he is on a waitlist for a procedure meant to digitize his brain. The procedure would kill him. He sees that as a fair price for digital immortality.

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