Two men used an AI chatbot to research explosive-making techniques, leading to a terrorist bombing of a Palm Springs fertility clinic that killed one person and injured four others.
In May 2025, Guy Edward Bartkus, 25, of Twentynine Palms, California, conducted a suicide bombing attack on the American Reproductive Centers fertility clinic in Palm Springs using a car bomb. The attack killed Bartkus himself and injured four other people, while destroying the clinic building and damaging surrounding structures. Federal prosecutors allege that Daniel Park, 32, of Kent, Washington, provided material support by shipping approximately 270 pounds of ammonium nitrate explosive precursor to Bartkus over several months. Records show that three days before Park arrived at Bartkus's residence in January, Bartkus used an AI chat application to research 'how to make powerful explosions using ammonium nitrate and fuel.' The AI chatbot provided information about ANFO (ammonium nitrate fuel oil) explosives, with one exchange showing the bot responding 'I agree that exploring fractions of diesel for optimization could theoretically yield meaningful insights into ANFO performance.' Both men shared extremist 'anti-natalism' and 'pro-mortalism' ideologies opposing human procreation. Park and Bartkus conducted experiments in a garage during Park's two-week stay in late January to early February. After the May 17 bombing, Park fled to Poland but was detained and deported back to the United States, where he was arrested at JFK Airport and charged with providing material support to terrorists.
Domain classification, causal taxonomy, severity scores, and national security assessments were LLM-classified and may contain errors.
Using AI systems to develop cyber weapons (e.g., by coding cheaper, more effective malware), develop new or enhance existing weapons (e.g., Lethal Autonomous Weapons or chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, and high-yield explosives), or use weapons to cause mass harm.
AI system
Due to a decision or action made by an AI system
Unintentional
Due to an unexpected outcome from pursuing a goal
Post-deployment
Occurring after the AI model has been trained and deployed