California
Man accused of attacking OpenAI CEO Sam Altman’s home pleads not guilty to attempted murder
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The man accused of throwing a Molotov cocktail at the San Francisco home of OpenAI CEO Sam Altman pleaded not guilty Tuesday to charges of attempted murder and attempted arson.
Daniel Alejandro Moreno-Gama, wearing an orange jail uniform, did not speak as his attorney entered the pleas during his arraignment in state court. The 20-year-old also faces federal charges.
Moreno-Gama, of Spring, Texas, hurled the flammable bomb at Altman’s home last month, setting an exterior gate alight before fleeing on foot, authorities allege. Less than an hour later, he went to OpenAI’s headquarters about 3 miles (5 kilometers) away and threatened to burn down the building, they say.
Diamond Ward, the public defender representing Moreno-Gama, said after the hearing that her client was experiencing a mental health crisis and had been excessively charged.
“Daniel is a kind, hard-working person who has been publicly advocating for peaceful measures to address the danger of AI on humanity,” she said.
She attributed Moreno-Gama’s actions to “a mental health crisis and not any desire to harm” and suggested prosecutors were trying to curry favor with Altman and were ignoring evidence of her client’s mental health issues.
During the hearing, Ward requested a mental health evaluation for Moreno-Gama. The judge granted the request and scheduled another hearing for later this month to discuss the results.
San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins said last month that Moreno-Gama carried out a “targeted attack on Mr. Altman” and that prosecutors had evidence to substantiate the charges.
Moreno-Gama’s parents said in a statement shortly after the attack that he has never harmed anyone and recently began having mental health issues.
Authorities said Moreno-Gama, who works part-time at a pizzeria and is attending community college, expressed hatred of artificial intelligence in his writings, describing it as a danger to humanity and warning of “impending extinction,” according to court filings.
Officials haven’t said whether Altman was home at the time of the attack.
The state charges, which also include attempted arson and attempted criminal threats, carry penalties ranging from 19 years to life in prison.
Federal prosecutors charged Moreno-Gama with possession of an unregistered firearm, and damage and destruction of property by means of explosives. Those charges carry respective maximum prison sentences of 10 years and 20 years.
Moreno-Gama made an initial appearance in federal court on Friday.
New Hampshire
FAA employee accused of sending email threatening to kill President Trump
CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — A Federal Aviation Administration employee in New Hampshire is accused of sending an email to the White House threatening to kill President Donald Trump after using his work computer to research assassination attempts and related topics.
Dean DelleChiaie, 35, of Nashua, was expected to make an initial court appearance Tuesday on a charge of interstate communication of a threat against the president. According to federal prosecutors, he sent a message April 21 using his personal email account in which he identified himself and said he was going to “neutralize/kill” the president.
That came nearly three months after police and U.S. Secret Service officers questioned DelleChiaie about searches made on his computer at the FAA, where he was employed as a contractor involved in mechanical engineering.
According to court documents, DelleChiaie used his work computer in January to search for information about how to get a gun into a federal facility, the percentage of the population that wants the president dead, the location of the vice president’s home and the names of his children. He later asked the FAA’s information technology department to delete his search history, but the department instead reported the request to authorities, and DelleChiaie was suspended.
When interviewed at his home Feb. 3, DelleChiaie admitted to making the searches and was remorseful, Secret Service Special Agent Nathaneal Gamble wrote. He also told investigators he owned three guns, was depressed and that while he was upset with the Trump administration, he had no interest in assassinations.
DelleChiaie, whose attorney did not immediately respond to a phone message seeking comment, was arrested Monday, just over a week after a gunman tried to storm the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner with guns and knives. Cole Tomas Allen has been charged in that incident, in which a Secret Service officer who was wearing body armor was shot but not seriously injured.
London
Some iPhone owners could get up to $95 payment after Apple agrees to settle case for $250 million
LONDON (AP) — Owners of some iPhones are in line to get cash payments of up to $95 from Apple after the company on Tuesday reached a $250 million settlement in a class-action lawsuit for false advertising of its artificial intelligence capabilities.
Apple trumpeted new AI features for its virtual assistant Siri when it rolled out the iPhone 16 in 2024, part of new software updates that the company billed as “Apple Intelligence.”
The company has been scrambling to keep up with tech rivals amid the AI boom but still hasn’t delivered on the Siri revamp two years later.
The lawsuit, filed on behalf of U.S. consumers in the San Francisco federal court for the Northern District of California, alleged that Apple deceived consumers with a marketing campaign that promoted features that did not yet exist and misled them into buying the devices.
Lawyers for the iPhone buyers asked a court for preliminary approval of the proposed $250 million settlement, according to a court filling. If approved by a judge, it would be one of the biggest ever for Apple.
The settlement covers about 37 million devices bought in the United States between June 10, 2024 and March 29, 2025, including all iPhone 16 models and the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max.
Owners are eligible for a payment of at least $25 for each device, and that amount could go up to $95 depending on how many other claims are filed “and other factors,” the filing said.
Customers will be notified by email or mail that they can file a claim on a settlement website, it said.
“Apple has reached a settlement to resolve claims related to the availability of two additional features,” the company said in a statement. “We resolved this matter to stay focused on doing what we do best, delivering the most innovative products and services to our users.”
Apple, based in Cupertino, California, was caught off-guard by the intense consumer interest in the Siri AI features. Buyers were angered after finding out that the new features would be released later than expected, the filing said.
They “would not have purchased the Eligible Devices or would have paid significantly less, had they known Enhanced Siri features were not available,” the filling said.
Apple’s AI features remain in development even as rivals Google and Samsung have been rolling out more of the technology on their own devices. The company is expected to unveil its Siri upgrade this year, most likely at its annual developer conference next month.
Apple said in its statement that it has “introduced dozens of features” since it launched Apple Intelligence, such as Visual Intelligence and Live Translations.
Illinois
Man charged with stealing $450 million from Mexican billionaire in loan scheme
A man with multiple aliases used the name of the famed Astor family to dupe a Mexican billionaire out of around $450 million in a bogus stock-backed loan scheme, according to a newly unsealed U.S. indictment and other court records.
Vladimir Sklarov, 63, also known as Gregory Mitchell and Mark Simon Bentley, set up a sham company, Astor Asset Group, that purported to be a legitimate and experienced loan provider that was connected to the Astors, federal prosecutors said. The storied New York family included John Jacob Astor, one of the wealthiest men in America in the mid-19th century.
Although the indictment unsealed on Monday does not name the victim, court records in litigation in England show it was Ricardo Salinas Pliego, the Mexican TV, retail and banking magnate. Salinas also confirmed he was ripped off by Astor Asset Group in an interview with The Wall Street Journal last year.
“I feel like an absolute idiot. How could I fall for this?” Salinas Pliego told the newspaper.
Sklarov was arrested in Chicago on Saturday on the indictment by a federal grand jury in New York City, prosecutors said. A detention hearing is scheduled for Friday in federal court in Chicago, according to court records.
A public defender representing Sklarov in Chicago did not immediately return phone and email messages Tuesday.
“As alleged, Vladimir Sklarov represented his company to be affiliated with, and have the financial backing of the famed New York Astor family in order to burnish his brand,” Jay Clayton, U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, said in a statement. “That was a complete lie. Sklarov used false prestige to gain control of hundreds of millions of dollars in stock and then liquidated those shares for his own benefit.”
In 2021, Salinas was seeking a $100 million loan that he intended to secure with shares of a company he owned, according to the indictment. Sklarov — using the name Gregory Mitchell and claiming he was “managing director” of Astor — and other, unnamed co-conspirators convinced Salinas that Astor was willing and able to provide the loan, prosecutors said. The other conspirators included a man who also used an alias, Thomas Mellon, whose last name is also that of a prominent and wealthy American family.
Sklarov and other conspirators told Salinas that Astor was originally established from the wealth of John Jacob Astor and that the company had high-profile clients including universities and investment funds, prosecutors said.
Under a deal signed around July 2021, Sklarov agreed to lend Salinas at least $115 million, claiming the money would come from the Astor family, the indictment says. Salinas secured the loan with company shares worth at least $450 million that were supposed to be held but not sold.
Sklarov then sold the company shares, used some of the proceeds to fund the loan to Salinas and kept the remaining hundreds of millions of dollars for himself and other conspirators, federal prosecutors said.
It wasn’t until July 2024 that Salinas learned the company shares had been liquidated, the indictment says. A day later, Salinas received a letter from Astor falsely claiming that Salinas had defaulted on the loan, according to the document. A month earlier, Astor wrongly informed Salinas that it had the right to sell the shares, prosecutors said.
Authorities listed Sklarov’s hometown as Athens, Greece. The Wall Street Journal reported that Sklarov is a Ukrainian-born American who had been convicted of fraud in the past.
Man accused of attacking OpenAI CEO Sam Altman’s home pleads not guilty to attempted murder
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The man accused of throwing a Molotov cocktail at the San Francisco home of OpenAI CEO Sam Altman pleaded not guilty Tuesday to charges of attempted murder and attempted arson.
Daniel Alejandro Moreno-Gama, wearing an orange jail uniform, did not speak as his attorney entered the pleas during his arraignment in state court. The 20-year-old also faces federal charges.
Moreno-Gama, of Spring, Texas, hurled the flammable bomb at Altman’s home last month, setting an exterior gate alight before fleeing on foot, authorities allege. Less than an hour later, he went to OpenAI’s headquarters about 3 miles (5 kilometers) away and threatened to burn down the building, they say.
Diamond Ward, the public defender representing Moreno-Gama, said after the hearing that her client was experiencing a mental health crisis and had been excessively charged.
“Daniel is a kind, hard-working person who has been publicly advocating for peaceful measures to address the danger of AI on humanity,” she said.
She attributed Moreno-Gama’s actions to “a mental health crisis and not any desire to harm” and suggested prosecutors were trying to curry favor with Altman and were ignoring evidence of her client’s mental health issues.
During the hearing, Ward requested a mental health evaluation for Moreno-Gama. The judge granted the request and scheduled another hearing for later this month to discuss the results.
San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins said last month that Moreno-Gama carried out a “targeted attack on Mr. Altman” and that prosecutors had evidence to substantiate the charges.
Moreno-Gama’s parents said in a statement shortly after the attack that he has never harmed anyone and recently began having mental health issues.
Authorities said Moreno-Gama, who works part-time at a pizzeria and is attending community college, expressed hatred of artificial intelligence in his writings, describing it as a danger to humanity and warning of “impending extinction,” according to court filings.
Officials haven’t said whether Altman was home at the time of the attack.
The state charges, which also include attempted arson and attempted criminal threats, carry penalties ranging from 19 years to life in prison.
Federal prosecutors charged Moreno-Gama with possession of an unregistered firearm, and damage and destruction of property by means of explosives. Those charges carry respective maximum prison sentences of 10 years and 20 years.
Moreno-Gama made an initial appearance in federal court on Friday.
New Hampshire
FAA employee accused of sending email threatening to kill President Trump
CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — A Federal Aviation Administration employee in New Hampshire is accused of sending an email to the White House threatening to kill President Donald Trump after using his work computer to research assassination attempts and related topics.
Dean DelleChiaie, 35, of Nashua, was expected to make an initial court appearance Tuesday on a charge of interstate communication of a threat against the president. According to federal prosecutors, he sent a message April 21 using his personal email account in which he identified himself and said he was going to “neutralize/kill” the president.
That came nearly three months after police and U.S. Secret Service officers questioned DelleChiaie about searches made on his computer at the FAA, where he was employed as a contractor involved in mechanical engineering.
According to court documents, DelleChiaie used his work computer in January to search for information about how to get a gun into a federal facility, the percentage of the population that wants the president dead, the location of the vice president’s home and the names of his children. He later asked the FAA’s information technology department to delete his search history, but the department instead reported the request to authorities, and DelleChiaie was suspended.
When interviewed at his home Feb. 3, DelleChiaie admitted to making the searches and was remorseful, Secret Service Special Agent Nathaneal Gamble wrote. He also told investigators he owned three guns, was depressed and that while he was upset with the Trump administration, he had no interest in assassinations.
DelleChiaie, whose attorney did not immediately respond to a phone message seeking comment, was arrested Monday, just over a week after a gunman tried to storm the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner with guns and knives. Cole Tomas Allen has been charged in that incident, in which a Secret Service officer who was wearing body armor was shot but not seriously injured.
London
Some iPhone owners could get up to $95 payment after Apple agrees to settle case for $250 million
LONDON (AP) — Owners of some iPhones are in line to get cash payments of up to $95 from Apple after the company on Tuesday reached a $250 million settlement in a class-action lawsuit for false advertising of its artificial intelligence capabilities.
Apple trumpeted new AI features for its virtual assistant Siri when it rolled out the iPhone 16 in 2024, part of new software updates that the company billed as “Apple Intelligence.”
The company has been scrambling to keep up with tech rivals amid the AI boom but still hasn’t delivered on the Siri revamp two years later.
The lawsuit, filed on behalf of U.S. consumers in the San Francisco federal court for the Northern District of California, alleged that Apple deceived consumers with a marketing campaign that promoted features that did not yet exist and misled them into buying the devices.
Lawyers for the iPhone buyers asked a court for preliminary approval of the proposed $250 million settlement, according to a court filling. If approved by a judge, it would be one of the biggest ever for Apple.
The settlement covers about 37 million devices bought in the United States between June 10, 2024 and March 29, 2025, including all iPhone 16 models and the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max.
Owners are eligible for a payment of at least $25 for each device, and that amount could go up to $95 depending on how many other claims are filed “and other factors,” the filing said.
Customers will be notified by email or mail that they can file a claim on a settlement website, it said.
“Apple has reached a settlement to resolve claims related to the availability of two additional features,” the company said in a statement. “We resolved this matter to stay focused on doing what we do best, delivering the most innovative products and services to our users.”
Apple, based in Cupertino, California, was caught off-guard by the intense consumer interest in the Siri AI features. Buyers were angered after finding out that the new features would be released later than expected, the filing said.
They “would not have purchased the Eligible Devices or would have paid significantly less, had they known Enhanced Siri features were not available,” the filling said.
Apple’s AI features remain in development even as rivals Google and Samsung have been rolling out more of the technology on their own devices. The company is expected to unveil its Siri upgrade this year, most likely at its annual developer conference next month.
Apple said in its statement that it has “introduced dozens of features” since it launched Apple Intelligence, such as Visual Intelligence and Live Translations.
Illinois
Man charged with stealing $450 million from Mexican billionaire in loan scheme
A man with multiple aliases used the name of the famed Astor family to dupe a Mexican billionaire out of around $450 million in a bogus stock-backed loan scheme, according to a newly unsealed U.S. indictment and other court records.
Vladimir Sklarov, 63, also known as Gregory Mitchell and Mark Simon Bentley, set up a sham company, Astor Asset Group, that purported to be a legitimate and experienced loan provider that was connected to the Astors, federal prosecutors said. The storied New York family included John Jacob Astor, one of the wealthiest men in America in the mid-19th century.
Although the indictment unsealed on Monday does not name the victim, court records in litigation in England show it was Ricardo Salinas Pliego, the Mexican TV, retail and banking magnate. Salinas also confirmed he was ripped off by Astor Asset Group in an interview with The Wall Street Journal last year.
“I feel like an absolute idiot. How could I fall for this?” Salinas Pliego told the newspaper.
Sklarov was arrested in Chicago on Saturday on the indictment by a federal grand jury in New York City, prosecutors said. A detention hearing is scheduled for Friday in federal court in Chicago, according to court records.
A public defender representing Sklarov in Chicago did not immediately return phone and email messages Tuesday.
“As alleged, Vladimir Sklarov represented his company to be affiliated with, and have the financial backing of the famed New York Astor family in order to burnish his brand,” Jay Clayton, U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, said in a statement. “That was a complete lie. Sklarov used false prestige to gain control of hundreds of millions of dollars in stock and then liquidated those shares for his own benefit.”
In 2021, Salinas was seeking a $100 million loan that he intended to secure with shares of a company he owned, according to the indictment. Sklarov — using the name Gregory Mitchell and claiming he was “managing director” of Astor — and other, unnamed co-conspirators convinced Salinas that Astor was willing and able to provide the loan, prosecutors said. The other conspirators included a man who also used an alias, Thomas Mellon, whose last name is also that of a prominent and wealthy American family.
Sklarov and other conspirators told Salinas that Astor was originally established from the wealth of John Jacob Astor and that the company had high-profile clients including universities and investment funds, prosecutors said.
Under a deal signed around July 2021, Sklarov agreed to lend Salinas at least $115 million, claiming the money would come from the Astor family, the indictment says. Salinas secured the loan with company shares worth at least $450 million that were supposed to be held but not sold.
Sklarov then sold the company shares, used some of the proceeds to fund the loan to Salinas and kept the remaining hundreds of millions of dollars for himself and other conspirators, federal prosecutors said.
It wasn’t until July 2024 that Salinas learned the company shares had been liquidated, the indictment says. A day later, Salinas received a letter from Astor falsely claiming that Salinas had defaulted on the loan, according to the document. A month earlier, Astor wrongly informed Salinas that it had the right to sell the shares, prosecutors said.
Authorities listed Sklarov’s hometown as Athens, Greece. The Wall Street Journal reported that Sklarov is a Ukrainian-born American who had been convicted of fraud in the past.
