Man who blew up Cybertruck at Trump Vegas hotel used ChatGPT to arrange attack, police report
Investigator calls it the first known incident in which ChatGPT was ‘utilized to help an individual build a particular device’
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Your support makes all the difference.The decorated soldier who blew up a Tesla Cybertruck outside the Trump hotel in Las Vegas last week used generative AI, including ChatGPT, to help set up the attack, Las Vegas police said Tuesday.
A laptop, cellphone and watch are still being examined after 37-year-old Matthew Livelsberger fatally shot himself just before the truck exploded on New Year’s Day.
An investigation of Livelsberger’s searches through ChatGPT indicate he was looking for information on explosive targets, the speed at which certain rounds of ammunition would travel and whether fireworks were legal in Arizona, according to investigators.
Kevin McMahill, sheriff of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, called the use of generative AI a “game-changer” and said the department was sharing information with other law enforcement agencies about the crime.
“This is the first incident that I’m aware of on U.S. soil where ChatGPT is utilized to help an individual build a particular device," he said. “It’s a concerning moment.” McMahill did not detail how ChatGPT was used to build the device, presumably referring to the gasoline- and fireworks-laden Cybertruck triggered to explode.
Las Vegas police and federal law enforcement officials also unveiled other new details about the explosion.
They noted that Livelsberger stopped during his drive to Las Vegas to pour racing-grade fuel into the Cybertruck, which then dripped the substance. The vehicle was loaded with 60 pounds of pyrotechnic material. Officials are still uncertain exactly what detonated the explosion, but said it could have been the flash from the firearm that Livelsberger used to fatally shoot himself.
Livelsberger, an Army Green Beret who deployed twice to Afghanistan and lived in Colorado Springs, Colorado, left notes saying the explosion was intended to be a “wake-up call ” for the nation's troubles, officials said last week.
He also left cellphone notes saying he needed to “cleanse” his mind “of the brothers I’ve lost and relieve myself of the burden of the lives I took."
The explosion caused minor injuries to seven people, but virtually no damage to the Trump International Hotel. Authorities said Livelsberger acted alone.
Livelsberger’s letters touched on political grievances, social problems and domestic and international issues, including the war in Ukraine. He wrote that the U.S. was “terminally ill and headed toward collapse.”
Investigators had been trying to determine if Livelsberger wanted to make a political point, given the Tesla and the hotel bearing the president-elect’s name.
But Livelsberger was a big supporter of President-elect Trump, according to his family. In one of the notes he left, he said the country needed to “rally around” him and Tesla CEO Elon Musk.