The attack on Sam Altman exposed a dark underbelly of the anti-AI movement

Mainstream artificial intelligence safety groups moved quickly to distance themselves after a 20-year-old allegedly attacked the home of OpenAI CEO Sam Altman last week in what law enforcement officers said appeared to be part of a plot to harm AI executives. But people in some corners of the internet cheered the attack.

One X user compared the attacker to Luigi Mangione, who is accused of killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in a politically motivated attack, in a post calling the two men “heroes.”

Multiple users on X called the attack “justified.”