Man accused of throwing Molotov cocktail at OpenAI CEO's SF home appears in court

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- The man accused of throwing a Molotov cocktail at the San Francisco home of OpenAI CEO Sam Altman appeared in court Wednesday, where a judge set a date for his preliminary hearing and new details emerged about his mental health.

Daniel Moreno-Gama, 20, of Texas, is accused of throwing a Molotov cocktail over a fence at Altman's San Francisco home in April, according to prosecutors. Surveillance video allegedly shows someone throwing the device over the fence before fleeing the scene.

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Prosecutors said Moreno-Gama also threatened to burn down OpenAI's headquarters in San Francisco's Mission Bay neighborhood. They allege he told security guards he wanted to burn down the building and kill everyone inside. According to prosecutors, Moreno-Gama wrote about opposing artificial intelligence companies and was carrying a document that included a list of names and addresses of executives at AI companies.

During Wednesday's court hearing, Moreno-Gama's mental health was discussed. The court heard that he has a qualifying mental health diagnosis for diversion, though the public defender told the media after the hearing that the defense is not pursuing that option at this time. His attorney said Moreno-Gama was suffering from acute psychosis at the time of the alleged incident and is now receiving treatment.

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"Daniel needs care and not to be caged. He's a young 20-year-old man who got lost, and I think the DA's false narrative and oversimplification of the facts of this case are going to come to light, whether that's at the preliminary hearing or later on down the line," Deputy Public Defender Diamond Ward said. "But I think as a society, the question that we'll have to answer is when we have individuals like Daniel, who we are seeing nationally picking up new cases or being charged with crimes when they are suffering mentally, what are we going to do with them? Are we going to just jail them for forever?" Ward said.

Moreno-Gama faces both federal and local charges, including attempted murder. His preliminary hearing is scheduled for Aug. 19 after he requested a voluntary extension. A request for comment was made to the San Francisco District Attorney's Office, and a response had not been received as of publication.