Throughout the history of humanity, every new invention, despite the best intentions, often ends up being used for wrongdoing. And when new inventions are used that way, those inventions often hit an inflection point.

2025 started with a Tesla Inc. Cybertruck filled with fireworks, gas canisters and camping fuel exploding outside the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas and the man behind the explosion, Matthew Livelsberger, used generative artificial intelligence tools, specifically ChatGPT, to plan the attack.

Las Vegas police said today that Livelsberger used ChatGPT to help plan the attack, including identifying information on explosive targets, the speed at which certain rounds of ammunition would travel, and whether fireworks were legal in Arizona.

The Associated Press quotes Kevin McMahill, sheriff of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, calling the use of generative AI in the attack a “game-changer” and said the department was 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,” McMahill said. “It’s a concerning moment.”

What exactly was Livelsberger’s motive for undertaking the attack is still not entirely clear. Authorities have a six-page document that has not been released. However, there is no shortage of conspiracies on social media, including that Livelsberger was aiming to highlight issues around the drone sightings in New Jersey.

Whatever his reason was behind the attack, the world, thanks to ChatGPT, just hit an inflection point: AI is now being used to plan attacks.

From the beginning of the Industrial Revolution through to today, new technology has often been branded as being evil or bad for society. With the high likelihood that that AI agents will replace real workers beginning in 2025, AI sits in a prime position to be the technological bogeyman.

But every technology goes through this point. The Cybertruck bomber could have used Google LLC instead of ChatGPT to do his research, not as easily given how awful Google Search has become, but in theory, he could have. If he had used Google search, no one would blame Google for him doing so, and likewise, no blame should be levied on OpenAI and ChatGPT.

That the bomber used ChatGPT could also be an inflection point in terms of broader usage of AI versus Google as well. Google Chief Executive Officer Sundar Pichai told Google employees at a strategy meeting in late December that he was concerned that ChatGPT may become synonymous with AI in the way Google is to search.

He was right to be concerned not just because ChatGPT is becoming synonymous with AI but because it is replacing Google: Even bombers do research now on ChatGPT over Google.

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