Driver used ChatGPT during scheduling, police say: NPR

LAS VEGAS — The highly decorated soldier who blew up a Tesla Cybertruck outside the Trump Hotel in Las Vegas used generative AI, including ChatGPT, to help plan the attack, Las Vegas police said Tuesday.

A laptop, cellphone and watch are still under investigation nearly a week after Matthew Livelsberger, 37, fatally shot himself just before the truck exploded.

An investigation into Livelsberger’s searches via ChatGPT indicates he was looking for information about explosive targets, how fast certain rounds would travel and whether fireworks were legal in Arizona.

Kevin McMahill, sheriff of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, called the use of generative AI a “game changer” and said the department shares information with other law enforcement agencies. law.

“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,” he said. “This is a worrying time.”

During a roughly half-hour news conference, Las Vegas police and federal law enforcement officials released new details about the New Year’s Eve explosion.

Among the details revealed by law enforcement: Livelsberger stopped during the drive to Las Vegas to pour racing-grade fuel into the Cybertruck, which then leaked the substance. The vehicle was loaded with 60 pounds (27 kilograms) of pyrotechnic material and officials still don’t know exactly what triggered the explosion, but said it could have been the flash from the gun that Livelsberger used to commit suicide.

Livelsberger, an Army Green Beret who was deployed twice to Afghanistan and lived in Colorado Springs, Colo., left notes saying the explosion was a stunt intended to be a “wake-up call” on the nation’s unrest, officials said last week.

He left notes on his cell phone saying he needed to “cleanse” his mind “of the brothers I have lost and relieve myself of the burden of the lives I have taken.”

The explosion caused seven minor injuries, but virtually no damage to the Trump International Hotel. Authorities said Livelsberger acted alone.

Livelsberger’s letters addressed political grievances, societal issues, and national and international issues, including the war in Ukraine. He wrote that the United States was “terminally ill and heading toward collapse.”

Investigators were trying to determine whether Livelsberger wanted to make a political point, given the Tesla and hotel named after the president-elect.

Livelsberger had no ill will toward President-elect Donald Trump, law enforcement said. In one of the notes he left, he said the country needed to “rally around” him and Tesla CEO Elon Musk.