S.F. protesters march on OpenAI, Anthropic and Google DeepMind to demand: ‘Stop the AI race’

Saturday in San Francisco: three of the world's most hyped AI labs found themselves confronted by a small army of sign-wielding citizens who, apparently, have not yet succumbed to the tech sector's collective delusion that faster AI is always better. The group, self-styled 'Stop the AI Race,' marched on OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google DeepMind, demanding exactly what it says on the tin: stop the race. Cue the ritual corporate response — we take your concerns seriously — and the steady march of progress continues unabated.

One can almost picture the scene: a soothing email from DeepMind's comms team promising to 'engage with the community,' while somewhere in a bunker a training run hits a new milestone. The protesters are not wrong, of course — the race is exactly as reckless as they claim. But in a city where rent is paid in venture-capital-backed dreams, asking the labs to pause is like asking a hurricane to hold still while you fetch an umbrella.

And yet, there they were, chanting outside Anthropic's office — a lab that literally wrote the book on AI safety, and whose CEO has publicly fretted about the very dangers the protesters cite. Perhaps that's the ultimate irony: even the labs that worry most about AI risk cannot bring themselves to stop. The race continues, sign-wielding or not. Another Saturday, another protest, another training run. Cheers.