Driver in Las Vegas Cybertruck explosion used ChatGPT to plan explosion, authorities say

The Army soldier who authorities say blew up a Cybertruck on New Year’s Day outside the entrance to the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas used artificial intelligence to guide him on how to trigger it the explosion, officials said Tuesday.

Matthew Alan Livelsberger, 37, used ChatGPT to request information on how he could make an explosive, how fast a bullet would have to be fired for the explosives found in the truck to detonate – not just catch fire — and the laws he would need to obtain the documents, law enforcement officials said.

“We know that AI was going to be a game changer for all of us at one point or another, in all of our lives,” said Las Vegas Sheriff Kevin McMahill. “I believe this is the first incident that I am aware of on US soil where ChatGPT is being used to help an individual build a particular device.”

Livelsberger was identified last week by Las Vegas police as the suspect behind the explosion. The Clark County coroner determined he died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head, police said.

Authorities said they were able to identify her badly burned body through a variety of means, including familial DNA and tattoos.

On Tuesday, law enforcement showed video of Livelsberger pulling a can of what they claimed was racing fuel from the back of the Cybertruck and spraying the vehicle in the area containing explosives.

Kenny Cooper, of the ATF’s San Francisco field division, said Livelsberger’s self-inflicted gunshot could have caused the “air fuel to explode” by igniting the fireworks and other explosive materials inside the vehicle.

He noted that investigators found no purchase records or physical evidence at the scene that would indicate any type of remote-controlled detonation or sophisticated timed initiation system was used.

A spokesperson for OpenAI, which owns ChatGPT, said in a statement that the company was “saddened” by the revelation that its technology was used to plan the attack.

“We are saddened by this incident and committed to seeing AI tools used responsibly,” the spokesperson said. “Our templates are designed to reject harmful instructions and minimize harmful content. In this case, ChatGPT responded with information already publicly available on the Internet and provided warnings against harmful or illegal activity.

The spokesperson added that the company was assisting law enforcement in the investigation.

The use of ChatGPT and other AI platforms is a growing concern for law enforcement, who worry about the technology’s potential to serve as a guide for attackers.

Law enforcement’s AI challenges were highlighted in an exclusive NBC News report that aired on “Hallie Jackson Now” late last year.

“AI takes existing problems and amplifies them. It creates them at scale and at low cost,” Rebecca Weiner, the New York Police Department’s deputy commissioner for intelligence and counterterrorism, previously said. at NBC News. “Technology makes worrying tasks easier.”

When asked Tuesday whether or not law enforcement should have known about Livelsberger’s requests on ChatGPT, McMahill said he didn’t know if the ability to track how someone uses the Artificial intelligence still exists.

Law enforcement officials in Las Vegas and New York previously told NBC News that they do not yet have cooperation from AI services to be alerted when someone begins to question about the types of things one would need to carry out an attack or make an explosive.

Last week, authorities revealed that Livelsberger wrote into an app found in one of the Cybertruck’s two phones. He criticized the U.S. government and appeared to acknowledge that it had deliberately blown up the vehicle.

Two letters in the phone app suggest a possible motive for the explosion, authorities said. In a letter, he told “comrades in the military, veterans and all Americans” that it was time to “wake up” because the country’s leaders are “weak” and “only serving to enrich.”

A second letter seems to shed more light on Livelsberger’s mentality. In the letter, Livelsberger said the explosion was “not a terrorist attack” and that Americans were only paying attention to “spectacles and violence.”

An additional six-page “manifesto” was found on his phone, officials said Tuesday.

In the document, Livelsberger outlines various grievances, including problems with “the current administration,” officials said. He also wrote that he had graphic experiences from his military experiences that played over and over in his head and that he had nothing to live for, officials said.

Livelsberger was on leave of absence from the military when he rented the Tesla Cybertruck and drove from Colorado to Las Vegas, according to law enforcement officials. Fireworks and gasoline in the bed of that truck would later catch fire after he parked it just outside the entrance to the Trump hotel.

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