LAS VEGAS — 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 reported on Tuesday.
A laptop, cellphone, and watch are still under review nearly a week after 37-year-old Matthew Livelsberger fatally shot himself just before the truck blew up.
An investigation into Livelsberger’s searches through ChatGPT indicates he sought 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, described the use of generative AI as a “game-changer” and mentioned that the department is sharing information with other law enforcement agencies.
“This is the first incident that I’m aware of on U.S. soil where ChatGPT is utilized to help an individual build a particular device,” he said. “It’s a concerning moment.”
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 details disclosed by law enforcement: 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 27 kilograms (60 pounds) of pyrotechnic material, and officials are still uncertain about exactly what triggered the explosion but suggested it could have been the flash from the firearm that Livelsberger used to fatally shoot himself.
Livelsberger, an Army Green Beret who deployed twice to Afghanistan and lived in Colorado Springs, Colorado, left notes indicating that the explosion was a stunt meant to serve as a “wake-up call” for the nation’s troubles, officials stated last week.
He left cellphone notes expressing the need to “cleanse” his mind of the “brothers I’ve lost” and to relieve himself of the burden of the lives he took.
The explosion resulted in minor injuries to seven people but caused virtually no damage to the Trump International Hotel. Authorities confirmed that Livelsberger acted alone.
Livelsberger’s letters addressed political grievances, societal problems, and both domestic and international issues, including the war in Ukraine. He wrote that the U.S. was “terminally ill and headed toward collapse.” Investigators are trying to determine if Livelsberger aimed to make a political statement, given the Tesla and the hotel bearing the president-elect’s name.
However, law enforcement officials noted that Livelsberger harbored no ill will toward President-elect Donald Trump. In one of the notes he left, he suggested that the country needed to “rally around” Trump and Tesla CEO Elon Musk.
