Attempts have been made on OpenAI CEO Sam Altman’s life not once, but twice, just in the month of April. Then on Saturday a madman trying to assassinate President Donald Trump, the third known attempt, was thwarted in Washington DC.
Worryingly, the response online isn’t condemnation — for some, it’s a sick celebration.
“I kinda like it,” one anonymous Reddit user responded to news someone threw a Molotov cocktail at Altman’s house on April 10.
“After all those s—ty decisions [Altman] made… practically giving us a middle finger… I don’t feel any semblance of sympathy for him,” the poster added of the OpenAI boss, whose ChatGPT program is the most commonly used AI tool in the US.
“Keep em coming,” another chimed in to the online thread. And a third, “Good on you, best news I’ve heard all day.”
AI “doomers,” convinced artificial intelligence will displace jobs or even destroy humanity are, incredibly, rallying around Altman’s 20-year-old accused attacker. On April 10, Daniel Moreno-Gama allegedly attempted to kill Altman at his home in San Francisco with a Molotov cocktail, before trying to burn down OpenAI’s headquarters. He has since been charged with attempted murder.
On Instagram, comments with thousands of likes celebrated the attack. “I hope that Molotov is okay,” one user joked. Another asked, “Where can we support their bail fund?” Others wrote, “More, more, MORE” and “a hero is born.”
Two days later, another incident happened which led to the arrest of two people for allegedly firing a gun at Altman’s property. The names of those arrested have not been released.
Many internet users are drawing parallels between these incidents and alleged United Healthcare CEO killer Luigi Mangione. For AI doomers, Moreno-Gama is another version of Mangione — or Robin Hood.
A Redditor responded: “Luigi no!!!! Not another CEO!!!” Another joked that we “need a leaderboard” for CEO murders “with Luigi at the top.”
Some approached the war on AI with a religious zeal. “Altman is the anti-christ, he will destroy humanity if it benefits him,” one Reddit user said.
Others waxed philosophical in their ethical justifications for apparent attempted murder: “If it were a trolley problem, press [a] button and an AI CEO dies, don’t press it and 90% chance nobody dies, 10% chance everyone on the planet dying, I think most people would press the button.”
The shocking callousness is rooted in real anxiety among Gen Z, who, because they are still only developing their careers and establishing themselves, have the most to lose to AI.
An April Gallup poll found that Gen Z has been souring on AI at a rapid pace. Over just the past year, the percentage of Zoomers who said they were excited about AI dropped from 36% to 22%. The proportion who were angry about AI rose from 22% to 31%.
The reaction online exposes a marked collective comfort with violence as a political tool. “Hate to break it to you but at some point violence is the only way things change,” one Redditor said.
According to a 2025 YouGov poll, the idea is more and more trendy among younger generations. While just 6% of senior citizens say that political violence can be justifiable, 19% of Zoomers say the same (notably, another 15% declined to answer the survey question).
On Saturday, a 31-year-old California teacher — a young millennial — opened fire at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner. According to his manifesto, Cole Allen was targeting Trump administration officials.
“I would still go through most everyone here to get to the targets if it were absolutely necessary (on the basis that most people *chose* to attend a speech by a pedophile, rapist, and traitor, and are thus complicit) but I really hope it doesn’t come to that,” he allegedly wrote.
One Redditor responded to the attack at the Correspondent’s dinner by predicting that “this will happen again. And Again. And Again.” They added, “I’ve never seen anyone in the public eye bait whole ethnic groups and nations like [Trump] has. Of course this will happen.”
When it comes to AI, a similar revolutionary zeal is palpable on the internet.
A Redditor predicted that “things are going to get a lot worse” when “people start getting laid off en masse,” due to AI.
Some drew parallels between the attack on Altman and the French Revolution — during which the guillotine was introduced — claiming that “elites have forgotten that unions and fair wages are part of the social contract so they don’t get their heads cut off.”
The widespread bloodthirst is a frightening reminder that a generation of young people has not been taught the importance of debate, expression, and persuasion.
Instead, they’re stooping to the basest human instincts: violence, rage, and mob mentality.
It’s a shame that the discourse among people concerned about AI is so extreme and vitriolic. It distracts from a very real truth: AI may fundamentally upend our society and young people’s futures. But cheering on a kid with a Molotov cocktail does nothing to change this fact.
Instead, young people absolutely must drive robust debates about AI. They should be taking action, not with weapons, but by participating in the political process, shaping AI reforms and AI regulations that could very well protect their futures.
