Daniel Moreno-Gama, who is accused of throwing a Molotov cocktail at OpenAI CEO Sam Altman’s home, didn’t always hate artificial intelligence (AI), a report has said, adding that the 20-year-old Texas man once thought it was pretty great but for a wrong reason. Moreno-Gama had actually been a fan of ChatGPT during his high school years because, as he put it, he could “cheat on everything”.This detail emerged from a podcast interview released this week by media startup Longview, as per a report by The Wall Street Journal. Moreno-Gama recorded the interview under the fake name “Discord Dan,” but the podcasters decided to reveal his real identity after the attack.
Why Sam Altman’s attacker converted from fan to ‘hater’
According to Moreno-Gama, the turning point came when he started reading prominent AI critics, particularly Eliezer Yudkowsky, who wrote in a 2023 Time magazine column that building a superintelligent AI would most likely result in the death of every person on Earth.“I was like, OK, I hope he’s kind of wrong. But over time, I realized very few of his main criticisms ever got refuted,” Moreno-Gama said in the interview.He began debating strangers online, pestering his parents and friends about AI risks, and going deep into literature. Online, he used the handle “Butlerian Jihadist” – a reference to a fictional war between humans and thinking machines from the classic science fiction novel Dune.“I kind of became a bit, like, annoying, a bit autistic about that,” he admitted.
Daniel Moreno-Gama joined and left peaceful movements
Moreno-Gama’s mother suggested he channel his fears into activism. In 2024, he joined PauseAI, a group that advocates pausing the development of the most powerful AI systems. He posted on their Discord server and wrote articles on Substack warning of humanity’s extinction.Maxime Fournes, PauseAI’s CEO, confirmed that Moreno-Gama had posted 34 messages on the group’s public server. “None of his messages contained explicit calls to violence,” Fournes said, adding, “We unequivocally condemn this attack and all forms of violence.”On another online forum called Stop AI, Moreno-Gama had directly asked whether “speaking about violence” would get him banned. He was told yes — and stopped posting.Ironically, in the very podcast interview where he discussed his growing ‘radicalisation’.“Before we even think about violence, we need to exhaust all our peaceful means. I think protesting, I think sharing information, I think doing podcasts like this — that needs to come way before we even consider that,” he said.Andy Mills, Longview’s editor in chief, explained that the podcast had initially promised Moreno-Gama anonymity. But, Mills said, “his own actions and online statements have since established a clear link between his pseudonym and his real identity.”
