SAN FRANCISCO — Daniel Moreno-Gama appeared in a San Francisco courtroom on July 8, 2026, facing federal and local charges that include attempted murder. He is accused of throwing a Molotov cocktail over a fence at OpenAI CEO Sam Altman's San Francisco home in April 2026.

Prosecutors allege Moreno-Gama, a 20-year-old from Texas, also threatened to burn down OpenAI's headquarters in the city's Mission Bay neighborhood. According to authorities, he told security guards he intended to burn the building and kill everyone inside. Surveillance video allegedly shows a person throwing a device over the fence at Altman's residence before fleeing the scene.

Court documents state that prosecutors believe Moreno-Gama wrote about opposing artificial intelligence companies and was carrying a document listing names and addresses of executives at AI firms. Despite the court hearing that he has a qualifying mental health diagnosis for diversion, the public defender said the defense is not pursuing that option at this time.

Moreno-Gama's attorney said he was suffering from acute psychosis during the alleged incident and is now receiving treatment. Deputy Public Defender Diamond Ward argued that "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." Ward added, "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?" Moreno-Gama requested a voluntary extension for his preliminary hearing, which is now scheduled for August 19, 2026.