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 Livelsberger , officials said according to writings, he didn't intend to kill anyone else.
An investigation of Livelsberger鈥檚 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.
Kevin McMahill, sheriff of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, called the use of generative AI a 鈥済ame-changer鈥� and said the department was sharing information with other law enforcement agencies.
鈥淭his is the first incident that I鈥檓 aware of on U.S. soil where ChatGPT is utilized to help an individual build a particular device," he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a concerning moment.鈥�
A message was left with ChatGPT developer OpenAI.
Launched in 2022, is part of a broader set of technologies developed by the San Francisco-based startup OpenAI. Unlike previous iterations of so-called 鈥渓arge language models,鈥� the ChatGPT tool is available for free to anyone with an internet connection and designed to be more user-friendly.
During a roughly half-hour-long news conference, Las Vegas police and federal law enforcement officials unveiled new details about the New Year's Day explosion.
Among the specifics law enforcement disclosed: Livelsberger stopped during the drive to Las Vegas to pour racing-grade fuel into the Cybertruck, which then dripped the substance. The vehicle was loaded with 60 pounds (27 kilograms) of pyrotechnic material as well as 70 pounds (32 kilograms) of birdshot but officials are still uncertain exactly what detonated the explosion. They said Tuesday it could have been the flash from the firearm that Livelsberger used to fatally shoot himself.
Authorities also said they uncovered a six-page document that they have not yet released because they're working with Defense Department officials since some of the material could be classified. They added that they still have to review contents on a laptop, mobile phone and smartwatch.
Among the items released was a journal Livelsberger kept titled 鈥渟urveillance鈥� or 鈥渟urveil鈥� log. It showed that he believed he was being tracked by law enforcement, but he had no criminal record and was not on the police department's of FBI's 鈥渞adar,鈥� the sheriff said Tuesday.
The log showed that he considered carrying out his plans in Arizona at the Grand Canyon's glass skywalk, a tourist attraction on tribal land that towers high above the canyon floor. Assistant Sheriff Dori Koren said police don't know why he changed his plans. The writings also showed he worried he would be labeled a terrorist and that people would think he intended to kill others besides himself, officials said.
Once stopped outside the hotel, video showed a flash in the vehicle that they said they believed was from the muzzle of the firearm Livelsberger used to shoot himself. Soon after that flash, video showed fire engulfing the truck's cabin and even escaping the seam of the door, the result of considerable fuel vapor, officials said. An explosion followed.
Livelsberger, an Army Green Beret who deployed twice to Afghanistan and lived in Colorado Springs, Colorado, left notes saying the explosion was a stunt meant to be a 鈥� 鈥� for the nation's troubles, officials said last week.
He left cellphone notes saying he needed to 鈥渃leanse鈥� his mind 鈥渙f the brothers I鈥檝e 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 that Livelsberger acted alone.
Livelsberger鈥檚 letters touched on political grievances, societal problems and domestic and international issues, including the war in Ukraine. He wrote that the U.S. was 鈥渢erminally ill and headed toward collapse.鈥�
Investigators had been trying to determine if Livelsberger wanted to make a political point, given the Tesla and the hotel bearing the president-elect鈥檚 name.
Livelsberger harbored no ill will toward President-elect Donald Trump, law enforcement officials said. In one of the notes he left, he said the country needed to 鈥渞ally around鈥� him and Tesla CEO Elon Musk.
Mike Catalini, The Associated Press
