ChatGPT Implicated in Cybertruck Explosion Planning, Say Las Vegas Police

United States: The man accused of using a Tesla Cybertruck to explode near the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas on New Year’s Day relied on the artificial intelligence language model, ChatGPT, to orchestrate the act, law enforcement officers informed reporters on Tuesday.

The suspect simply typed into AI-based chatbot ChatGPT in an attempt at trying to determine how much explosive was required to set off a blast, according to the officials, as reported by Reuters.

Police last week named the man found dead inside the Cybertuck as Matthew Livelsberger, 37, the active-duty soldier from Colorado Springs who shot himself, the media reported, citing authorities. The FBI, however, stated that the occurrence seemed to be more like a suicide.

IMPORTANT

On Tuesday, Speaking during a media briefing, the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department disclosed that the Cybertruck explosion was the first case of an explosive device having been constructed using ChatGPT in the United States.

The US army soldier who used Tesla's Cybertruck to carry out a bombing in Las Vegas used ChatGPT for planning.#ChatGPT #Cybertruck #Teslahttps://t.co/ZTOCO53wpN

— Mashable India (@MashableIndia) January 8, 2025

Several critics have argued that intelligent systems can be used for negative causes, and the Las Vegas attack may fuel such views.

KEY QUOTES

“Of particular note, we also have clear evidence in this case now that the suspect used ChatGPT artificial intelligence to help plan his attack,” Sheriff Kevin McMahill of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department added to a press conference.

👨🏻‍💻 Las Vegas #police release #ChatGPT logs from the suspect in the Cybertruck explosion 🚓❗️@verge⁩ https://t.co/90sCtjCrkf

— Matthias M. Hudobnik ⚖️ 💾 (@mhudobnik) January 8, 2025

“This is the first incident that I am aware of on U.S. soil where ChatGPT is utilized to help an individual build a particular device,” McMahill added.

AI WARNINGS

According to OpenAI, the firm that created ChatGPT, it is “committed to seeing AI tools used responsibly,” its “models are designed to refuse harmful instructions.”

Man who exploded Cybertruck outside Trump hotel in Las Vegas used ChatGPT to help plan attack https://t.co/AOMOCXDBGD

— MLive.com News (@michigannews) January 8, 2025

“In this case, ChatGPT responded with information already publicly available on the internet and provided warnings against harmful or illegal activities,” the company said in a statement cited by Axios.

CONTEXT

The FBI goes on to state that there is little connection between last week’s deadly attack by a truck that killed more than a dozen people in New Orleans and the Saturday incident where seven were left with minor injuries due to the explosion of Cybertruck. They said that the suspect had no enmity with US President-elect Donald Trump and that he was probably suffering from post-traumatic stress Disorder, as reported by Reuters.

Man who exploded Tesla Cybertruck used ChatGPT, police say https://t.co/S8ived68c8 pic.twitter.com/TJhLXEOtjJ

— National Post (@nationalpost) January 8, 2025

Police said that they found that Livelsberger’s phone had a six-page manifesto that they were looking into.