Police have provided an update on the man responsible for the Tesla Cybertruck explosion outside the Trump hotel in Las Vegas, including that he used ChatGPT to help plan the attack and that he left behind a six-page manifesto touching on political grievances, societal concerns, and personal struggles.
While the sheriff said police were choosing not to release the full manifesto at this time, several excerpts from it were revealed during the news conference, including Livelsberger’s determination not to be captured alive, along with his intention not to harm anyone in the explosion besides himself.
“As much as the [mainstream media] will paint me out to be some terrorist and monster, I had no intent on taking out anyone but myself,” one of the excerpts from the manifesto reads. “I am deeply sorry to anyone that gets hurt. I served my country for my entire adult life, and I got caught up in some craziness and have outrun my headlights.”
Livelsberger also wrote about his intent to make the incident “as public as possible,” in part to send a message of grievance about what he said was a meaningless military engagement in Afghanistan that pointlessly claimed the lives of his brothers in arms.
“We failed, and the credibility of military and political leadership was shredded when no one was held accountable,” he wrote, adding that the violence he witnessed and took part in as a soldier “replay in my head every day, all day, and it has ruined my relationships with my family and friends. I am now a shell of a human being with nothing to live for, it has all been taken away by my affiliations.”
Speaking at the news conference, LVMPD assistant sheriff Dori Koren said clear evidence has emerged that Livelsberger used ChatGPT to help plan the attack, including searches for information on how to build a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device, the legal limit to buy specific explosive substances in certain states, and whether a pistol could be used to set it off.
Koren said Livelsberger packed the Cybertruck with about 60 pounds of pyrotechnic material and poured racing-grade fuel into the vehicle, creating an exceptionally volatile mixture. The official played a frame-by-frame video of the moment that the truck detonated, which showed that Livelsberger likely relied on the muzzle flash from a discharged handgun that he used to fatally shoot himself while sitting in the truck’s driver seat to ignite the highly volatile mixture and detonate the vehicle-borne improvised explosive device.
“Right, there’s the initial flash, and following that is the larger explosion,” Koren said.
“The other thing you’re seeing circled in red there is we believe fumes from all the racing fuel that was poured inside the vehicle and on the back, it ignited first,” he continued, adding that investigators believe this is the mechanism that Livelsberger used to detonate the truck.
Kenneth Cooper, assistant special agent in charge at the ATF’s San Francisco division, provided further details, saying that investigators believe that the muzzle flash from Livelsberger’s self-inflicted gunshot wound was sufficient to ignite the highly volatile fuel-air mixture in the truck, which in turn set off the fireworks and other explosive materials in the vehicle.
Addressing Livelsberger’s use of ChatGPT to plan the attack, the Las Vegas sheriff called the use of generative artificial intelligence (AI) a “game-changer,” adding 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.”
