The Stockholm stock exchange fell at opening after Iran peace negotiations failed, with the broad index OMXSPI dropping by 1.0 percent and the large-cap index OMXS30 dropping 1.1 percent, according to reports. Oil prices rose sharply by almost 8 percent to over 100 dollars per barrel, trading at 101.50 dollars per barrel early Monday morning, sources indicate. At 16:00 today, US President Donald Trump's own blockade of the Strait of Hormuz is expected to take effect, per media accounts. This market movement reversed gains from Friday, when the stock market rose on hopes that peace would be achieved, as reported.
In a separate development, two people have been arrested after a suspected shooting outside OpenAI founder Sam Altman's home in San Francisco, authorities said. The suspected shooting occurred just before 03:00 local time, and two people who had traveled in a car past Altman's home were arrested later, according to police. Police have not commented on whether shots were fired at Altman himself or his home, and it is unclear if anyone was injured, reports state.
Authorities allege that 20-year-old Daniel Moreno-Gama threw a Molotov cocktail at Sam Altman's home a few days ago, setting an exterior gate alight before fleeing on foot. Surveillance video images show a person dressed in a dark hoodie and pants that the FBI alleges is Moreno-Gama approaching the driveway of Altman’s home, tossing the Molotov cocktail, which landed at the top of a metal gate and started a small fire, according to federal documents. Less than an hour later, Moreno-Gama allegedly went to OpenAI’s headquarters about 3 miles away and threatened to burn down the building, with surveillance video images from outside OpenAI’s headquarters allegedly showing him grabbing a chair and using it to hit a set of glass doors before being approached by security personnel, authorities claim. The man accused of throwing the incendiary device had written about AI's purported risk to humanity and traveled from Texas to San Francisco intending to kill Altman, according to authorities, with Moreno-Gama opposed to artificial intelligence, writing about AI’s purported risk to humanity and 'our impending extinction,' according to a federal criminal complaint. No one was injured at Altman's home or the company offices, according to authorities.
Moreno-Gama faces charges including two counts of attempted murder and attempted arson in California state court, according to San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins, who said he tried to kill both Altman and a security guard at Altman's residence. He has been charged by federal prosecutors with possession of an unregistered firearm and damage and destruction of property by means of explosives, with respective penalties of up to 10 years and 20 years in prison, court records show. The federal court documents do not list an attorney for Moreno-Gama, and he has not yet had his first appearance in federal court, though he is set to appear in court Tuesday, and online state court records do not yet show if he has an attorney, per reports. Authorities did not publicly identify the suspect or confirm the address where the attack took place, though a spokesperson for OpenAI confirmed the incident took place at Altman’s residence, and in a post on the social media platform X, the police department said that a residence in the North Beach neighbourhood was affected.
The incident comes amid heightened security concerns around OpenAI’s offices, which have faced threats and protests in recent months, with just last November, a man making violent threats to its San Francisco headquarters briefly prompting an office lockdown, according to reports. Altman and the company have increasingly become targets for activists who warn about the risks artificial intelligence could pose to society. Critics have also raised alarm over OpenAI’s decision to collaborate with the US Department of Defense, a move that has intensified scrutiny of the company’s role in military technology, sources indicate. Public sentiment towards AI remains mixed, with a recent NBC News poll finding that the technology is viewed even less favourably than US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), a federal agency responsible for violent immigration raids under President Donald Trump, the poll shows.
The state charges carry penalties ranging from 19 years to life in prison.
Despite the criticism, OpenAI’s growth has accelerated rapidly, with the company saying last month it was valued at $852bn, following a major funding round that raised $122bn, according to company statements. Companies like OpenAI, however, face lingering questions about whether they can generate sufficient revenue to cover their high expenses. One of OpenAI’s signature products, ChatGPT, continues to dominate the consumer AI market, with more than 900 million weekly active users and about 50 million subscribers, and the company also said usage of its search features has tripled over the past year, per reports.
In other news, an action has been carried out in connection with Iranian exile prince Reza Pahlavi's visit to the parliament; at Sergelstorg in Stockholm, three dolls with the faces of Ebba Busch (KD), Jimmie Åkesson (SD), and Pahlavi have been hung up in nooses, according to reports. Above the dolls is a sign with red capital letters: 'Folkmördare, bödlar och lakejer' (Mass murderers, executioners, and lackeys). Pahlavi is the son of the last shah of Iran who led the country before the ayatollahs took over, and he is in Sweden on invitation from the Sweden Democrats and Christian Democrats, sources indicate.
The weekend's election outcome in Hungary has the country's currency strengthening significantly, with the current level against the euro being the highest since April 2022, market data shows. In Sunday's election, Péter Magyar's social conservative party Tisza got a two-thirds majority, which means a so-called supermajority in parliament, while outgoing Prime Minister Viktor Orbán's party Fidesz failed completely in the election, according to election results. From market perspectives, the supermajority for Tisza is assessed to mean that the country's currency can strengthen further, as an effect of the party expected to approach the EU, analysts say.
German airline Lufthansa has had to cancel a number of flights, including to and from the Nordics, as its pilots go on strike, the airline said. The cause of the strike is a dispute over wage and pension levels and is to involve hundreds of flights over the two days the strike is intended to last, according to union statements. For Sweden, this has meant that Monday's departures to Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Hamburg, and Munich from Arlanda are canceled, and Copenhagen Airport Kastrup is also affected with a number of canceled departures, airport officials reported.
At least 1,639 people were executed in Iran last year, according to two human rights organizations.
Has underestimated the power of words.
On Monday morning, FBI agents went to Moreno-Gama’s home in Spring, Texas, a suburb of Houston, where they spent several hours before leaving, authorities said. Messages sent to the FBI by an investigator with the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension went ignored for at least two days, per records obtained by WIRED.
Agents from ICE are being deployed to over a dozen airports around the country, including New York, Atlanta, and Chicago, according to DHS statements. A WIRED analysis of DHS records identified dozens of specialized federal agents who used force against US civilians during the largest known deployment of its kind in US history.
In Seattle, activists inside tech giants are leaning into grassroots fundraising and peer support as petitions and protests draw little response from executives, reports indicate. The Quizlet flashcards, which WIRED found through basic Google searches, seem to include sensitive information about gate security at Customs and Border Protection locations. Nonprofits run out of US Border Patrol stations are also selling other “operation”-themed coins that include a phrase popularized by the Proud Boys, potentially in violation of government rules, according to investigations. Federal immigration enforcement agents usually won't talk to the media—but they will talk to independent journalist Karl Loftus, sources say.
As Trump threatens Iranian infrastructure, the US government warns that Iran has carried out its own digital attacks against US critical infrastructure, officials stated. The Department of Defense alleges the AI developer could manipulate models in the middle of war, while company executives argue that’s impossible, according to reports.
Between pickup artists and juvenile pranksters, the wearable device is becoming associated with pests of all kinds.
There are discrepancies in reporting on the incidents targeting Altman. The timing of the Molotov cocktail attack is reported as around 4 am Friday by some sources and around 3:43 am Friday by others, affecting the precise timeline. While some reports state the suspect has been arrested but not identified, others identify him as 20-year-old Daniel Moreno-Gama, impacting transparency. Additionally, some coverage mentions two incidents—a Molotov cocktail attack and a separate shooting—while other reports only mention the Molotov attack, suggesting either misreporting or an unreported event.