Days after a 20-year-old man was arrested for allegedly throwing a Molotov cocktail- an incendiary weapon, at the home of Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, activists campaigning against unchecked AI research, condemned the attack, claiming that any act of violence against AI supporters is bound to backfire.
Taking to X, David Krueger, Assistant Professor in Robust, Reasoning and Responsible AI at University of Montreal, said, “I denounce violent attacks on AI researchers or politicians, such as the recent Molotov cocktail thrown at Sam Altman and the bullets fired into the house a local councilman supporting datacenter development.”
I denounce violent attacks on AI researchers or politicians, such as the recent Molotov cocktail thrown at Sam Altman and the bullets fired into the house a local councilman supporting datacenter development.
Last year, I personally called AI companies to warn their security…
— David Krueger 🦥 ⏸️ ⏹️ ⏪ (@DavidSKrueger) April 11, 2026
Krueger was one of the main organizers of “Stop the AI Race”- the largest Anti-Frontier AI rally held in the U.S. in March, wherein the protestors demanded a conditional pause on frontier AI research, fearing arrival of “superintelligence” could pose a serious risk to humanity.
Similarly, Michael Trazzi, French Filmmaker and chief organizer of Stop the AI Race also condemned the violence against Sam Altman.
“We condemn all violence. The Stop the AI Race movement is and always will be lawful and nonviolent (sic),” said Trazzi in an interview with The New York Times, after the arson incident at Altman’s home.
On April 10, a molotov cocktail was thrown at Altman’s house in San Francisco by an unknown person. Hours later, police arrested Daniel Alejandro Moreno-Gama, also a resident of SF, for allegedly carrying out the act.
Later, Altman wrote in a blog post that increasingly heated rhetoric around AI could have unintended real-world effects. Altman also addressed recent criticism of OpenAI and called for a more measured approach to public discourse, emphasizing the need to reduce tensions and avoid escalation.
Following the attack, Professor Krueger maintained that any acts of terrorism against supporters of AI would only backfire.
“This is not a realistic way to stop AI. Terrorism against AI supporters would backfire in many ways. It would help critics discredit the movement, be used to justify government crackdowns on dissent, and lead to AI being securitized, making public oversight and international cooperation much harder,” said Krueger.
On March 21 this year, over 200 protestors marched to offices of Anthropic, OpenAI and xAI, under the banner “Stop The AI Race” demanding that the CEOs of all three leading AI companies commit to a conditional pause on their frontier AI research.
Also Read: “Just Say You’ll Pause If Everyone Pauses”: Activist Who Led America’s Largest Anti-AI Protest
