Sam Altman house hit in firebomb attack, suspect held

San Francisco police arrested a suspect after an alleged firebomb attack at OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman’s home. 

The case drew wider attention after police said the same person later moved toward OpenAI headquarters and made threats.

The San Francisco Police Department said an unknown man threw an incendiary device at a North Beach home on Friday. Police said the device caused a fire at the exterior gate of the property.

Officers said the suspect fled on foot after the attack. Police later found and arrested a 20-year-old near OpenAI headquarters after reports of threats to damage the building.

A spokesperson for OpenAI told CNBC that no one was injured in the incident. The company said it is working with police as the investigation continues.

Police said the suspect threatened to burn the building down. Authorities have not yet disclosed charges, and investigators have not released further details about motive or evidence.

The attack came during a period of renewed public scrutiny around Altman and OpenAI. Earlier this month, The New Yorker published a report that questioned Altman’s handling of safety issues and leadership disputes.

Altman later addressed both the attack and the report in a blog post. 

“Normally we try to be pretty private, but in this case I am sharing a photo in the hopes that it might dissuade the next person from throwing a Molotov cocktail at our house,” he wrote.

Blog post addresses past conflicts

Altman also responded to criticism raised in the New Yorker report. He said the article was “incendiary” and said he had underestimated “the power of narratives.”

He also acknowledged past mistakes at OpenAI. Altman wrote, “I have made many other mistakes throughout the insane trajectory of OpenAI,” and said he was sorry to people he had hurt.