A screen shows OpenAI CEO Sam Altman speaking at the 2026 Infrastructure Summit of government officials, business executives, and labor leaders in Washington on March 11, 2026.
Kylie Cooper | Reuters
Police announced Friday that they have arrested a man accused of throwing a Molotov cocktail at the home of OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and threatening to burn down the artificial intelligence company’s San Francisco headquarters.
An OpenAI spokesperson confirmed the attack in a statement, saying, “Fortunately, no one was injured.”
The San Francisco Police Department responded to a fire at Altman’s North Beach residence around 4 a.m. after officers threw an “incendiary device” at the home, according to a post on X. The device caused a fire at the outer gate, and the suspect fled on foot.
About an hour later, they responded to a man threatening arson at the AI company’s offices and recognized him as the suspect in the attack on Altman’s home, the statement said. Officers arrested a 20-year-old male suspect, but charges are still pending.
“We deeply appreciate SFPD’s quick response and the City’s assistance in keeping our employees safe,” OpenAI said in a statement. “The individual is in custody and we are assisting law enforcement with their investigation.”
Altman addressed the attack in a post on his personal blog on Friday, sharing a photo of his family and writing, “I underestimated the power of words and stories.” He said the past few years had been “a very intense, confusing and high-pressure few years” and called for a de-escalation of “rhetoric and tactics” within the AI industry.
“Much of the criticism of our industry comes from genuine concerns about the incredibly high stakes of this technology. This is very legitimate, and we welcome honest criticism and discussion,” Altman said. “I share the anti-technology sentiment, and it’s clear that technology isn’t always good for everyone. But overall, I believe that advances in technology can make the future incredibly good for your family and my family.”
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman’s home as seen from Chestnut Street in San Francisco on April 10, 2026.
Ria Suzuki | San Francisco Chronicle | Hearst Newspapers | Getty Images
The incident comes at a particularly controversial time for Altman and OpenAI.
The company came under intense scrutiny in February for signing a contract with the Pentagon after the agency severed ties with AI rival Anthropic. Activists wrote messages in chalk in the offices of both companies, urging OpenAI to encourage its employees to speak out against the deal.
OpenAI and Anthropic are competing for supremacy in the large language model market. Both companies are collectively valued at more than $1 trillion in the private markets and are pursuing a possible IPO this year, but are still burning through billions of dollars in cash.
And in a lawsuit scheduled to go to trial later this month, Elon Musk is suing OpenAI and Altman, alleging that the company’s CEO was “persistently manipulated” into donating $38 million based on a promise to keep OpenAI a nonprofit organization. Musk co-founded OpenAI with Altman in 2015 and is seeking to have Altman removed as CEO of the company as part of the lawsuit.
–CNBC’s Ashley Capoot contributed to this report
WATCH: Elon Musk seeks removal of OpenAI CEO Sam Altman as part of lawsuit
