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Incident 886: ChatGPT Reportedly Referenced During Las Vegas Cybertruck Explosion Planning

Description: Matthew Livelsberger, the suspect in the 2025 Las Vegas Cybertruck explosion, reportedly used ChatGPT to search for publicly available information on explosives, ammunition, and fireworks regulations. ChatGPT is alleged to have played a role in the planning of the explosion outside the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas. The information provided by ChatGPT, though, was reportedly general and available through other public sources.
Editor Notes: Incident 886 may raise questions regarding its alignment with the "but-for" causation standard outlined in the AIID criteria. The "but-for" provision requires that an AI system play an important role in the chain of events leading to harm, such that the specific harm would not have occurred without the system's involvement. While the role of ChatGPT in this case appears to be secondary, its inclusion is notable as it represents one of the first prominent instances where generative AI is reportedly linked to planning a high-profile harmful event. Given the significance of this development in discussions about the potential misuse of AI, the incident has been indexed for further analysis. Regarding the timeline, while the explosion itself occurred on January 1st, 2025, the reported ChatGPT logs released by the Las Vegas police indicate that Livelsberger referenced ChatGPT throughout the morning and early afternoon of December 27th, 2024.

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Entities

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Alleged: OpenAI developed an AI system deployed by OpenAI and Matthew Livelsberger, which harmed Matthew Livelsberger , Seven injured victims in Las Vegas and Bystanders and guests of the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas.
Alleged implicated AI system: ChatGPT

Incident Stats

Incident ID
886
Report Count
3
Incident Date
2024-12-27
Editors
Daniel Atherton

Incident Reports

Reports Timeline

Incident Occurrence+1
Man who exploded Tesla Cybertruck outside Trump hotel in Las Vegas used generative AI
Las Vegas police release ChatGPT logs from the suspect in the Cybertruck explosion
Man who exploded Tesla Cybertruck outside Trump hotel in Las Vegas used generative AI

Man who exploded Tesla Cybertruck outside Trump hotel in Las Vegas used generative AI

apnews.com

Matthew Livelsberger used Generative AI in planning truck blast: police

Matthew Livelsberger used Generative AI in planning truck blast: police

newsweek.com

Las Vegas police release ChatGPT logs from the suspect in the Cybertruck explosion

Las Vegas police release ChatGPT logs from the suspect in the Cybertruck explosion

theverge.com

Man who exploded Tesla Cybertruck outside Trump hotel in Las Vegas used generative AI
apnews.com · 2025

The highly decorated soldier who exploded 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.

Nearly a week after 37-year-old Matthew Livelsber…

Matthew Livelsberger used Generative AI in planning truck blast: police
newsweek.com · 2025

Matthew Livelsberger, a Green Beret and the main suspect in the Cybertruck explosion in Las Vegas, used generative AI including ChatGPT, to help plan the attack, according to Las Vegas police on Tuesday.

Why It Matters

Firework mortars and …

Las Vegas police release ChatGPT logs from the suspect in the Cybertruck explosion
theverge.com · 2025

Nearly a week after a New Year’s Day explosion in front of the Trump Hotel in Las Vegas, local law enforcement released more information about their investigation, including what they know so far about the role of generative AI in the incid…

Variants

A "variant" is an incident that shares the same causative factors, produces similar harms, and involves the same intelligent systems as a known AI incident. Rather than index variants as entirely separate incidents, we list variations of incidents under the first similar incident submitted to the database. Unlike other submission types to the incident database, variants are not required to have reporting in evidence external to the Incident Database. Learn more from the research paper.

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