Student accused of trying to murder Sam Altman is well-informed AI doomer, says podcast host who interviewed him
In January, podcaster Andy Mills interviewed an AI doomer who had advocated on Discord for killing tech execs.Still, when news broke last week that a 20-year-old had been arrested for attempting to murder OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, Mills was shocked.“When I saw that they had released the name of this guy,” Mills told The Post, “I was like, ‘Holy s–t.
It’s Dan.'”On Monday, Daniel Moreno-Gama was arrested for throwing a Molotov cocktail at Altman’s San Francisco house on April 10, then attempting to burn down OpenAI’s headquarters some four miles away.Investigators allege he was carrying an anti-AI manifesto that read, “If I am going to advocate for others to kill and commit crimes, then I must lead by example … .” The DOJ has charged him with attempted murder and arson.The interview, “Sam Altman’s Attacker, In His Own Words,” debuted Thursday.Mills, host of the podcast “The Last Invention,” which explores different schools of thought about artificial intelligence, found Moreno-Gama on a Discord channel, Pause AI, dedicated to talking about the dangers of AI.
Hiding behind the username Butlerian Jihadist — the title of a novel in the “Dune” series by Brian Herbert and Kevin J.Anderson — the Spring, Texas, college student was anonymously flirting with using violence against tech executives.“Will speaking about violence get me banned?” he asked moderators.“[I] reached out and said, ‘Hey, man, what did you have in mind when you talk about violence?'” Mills told The Post.
“And he said, ‘How about Luigi-ing some tech CEOs?’” — a reference to Luigi Mangione, who is accused of murdering United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson in December 2024.During the interview, when the host asked if the Lone Star College student really thought violence against AI executives was a good idea, Moreno-Gama softened a bit.“I didn’t really mean that as a threat or anything,” Moreno-Gama said.
“I think before we even think abou...