Man accused of plotting Palm Springs fertility clinic bombing using AI chatbot
A Washington State man was arrested and accused of helping to plot and carry out the May 2025 bombing of an American Reproductive Centers fertility clinic in Palm Springs, California. Federal prosecutors say the two suspects used an AI chatbot to research explosives recipes, consulted for over a year as part of their attack motivated by anti-natalism ideology.
What happened
Daniel Park, 32, a Washington State man, was arrested on Tuesday at Kennedy Airport and charged in federal court with providing material support to terrorists in connection with the May 17 bombing of American Reproductive Centers in Palm Springs, California.
Park is accused of conspiring with Guy Edward Bartkus, 25, of Twentynine Palms, California, to bomb the clinic. Federal prosecutors say the two men targeted the clinic because of their shared belief in "anti-natalism," a fringe ideology whose adherents consider human procreation unethical, and plotted for more than a year before executing the attack.
Bartkus detonated a Ford Fusion parked near the clinic, killing himself and one other person, and injuring four people. Park had begun buying large quantities of ammonium nitrate in October 2022 and shipped 90 pounds of the material to Bartkus days before the attack.
Reported impact
The bombing killed one person and damaged buildings on several city blocks in Palm Springs.
Four people were injured in the explosion.
Index analysis
Records from an AI chat application show Bartkus "researched how to make powerful explosions using ammonium nitrate and fuel," and the FBI criminal complaint indicates he used his phone to look up information about "explosives, diesel, gasoline mixtures and detonation velocity."
According to prosecutors, Park and Bartkus consulted an AI chatbot that helped them devise recipes for explosives over the course of their more than year-long conspiracy.
Governance controls
The incident marks the second case in 2025 where law enforcement pointed to generative AI assisting with a bombing or attempted bombing, following a January case involving a soldier who used ChatGPT to help plan an attack.
Classification
Sources and evidence
This record was researched and written by the Index, based on the following original reporting.