GoKawiilPedestrians walk on Lombard Street past a driveway at the home of Sam Altman on Friday, April 10, 2026, in San Francisco. (Photo by Lea Suzuki/San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images)
A lawyer representing the man accused of throwing a lit Molotov cocktail at the driveway gate of OpenAI CEO Sam Altman's home last week said Tuesday that he suffered from a mental-health crisis.
Daniel Moreno-Gama, 20, was assigned a public defender team ahead of his hearing before Judge Kenneth Wine.
"Our defense team is just now beginning our investigation, and what's becoming clear is that Daniel's actions appear to have been driven by an acute mental health crisis," San Francisco Deputy Public Defender Diamond Solange Ward said in the courthouse hallway.
Ward said Moreno-Gama has a history of autism and that the case is "clearly overcharged."
"This case is a property crime at best," she said. "No one was injured, and there appears to be some damage to a gate."
Moreno-Gama allegedly threatened to burn down OpenAI's headquarters last week because of his hatred for artificial intelligence technology.
San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins dismissed the claim as grasping for straws and said the office has "no evidence of him having a mental health issue."
"It wouldn't matter if this was a billionaire or CEO or any average San Franciscan," Jenkins said.
Moreno-Gama, a Texas resident, was set to be arraigned on Tuesday in San Francisco Superior Court. His legal team asked to push the date until May 5, which the judge agreed to.
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