San Francisco protesters rally against AI development race

Dozens of people demonstrated in San Francisco on Thursday to call for an end to the race to develop AI.

About 50 people participated, who were mainly in their 20s and 30s. Many AI companies have offices in the city.

The protest was organized by a group that is urging businesses and governments to stop competing with each other in developing AI. The group argues that AI models could take away people's jobs or cause grave damage when used in warfare.

The protesters marched past the offices of frontier AI firms including OpenAI and Anthropic.

One protester, who said she was a musician, said, "We are starting to be replaced by AI, and we are getting less work." She added, "It's not great for us as musicians because it takes away gigs and money."

Another protester, an AI engineer, said he has become more concerned that AI agents "could disable or disrupt a critical piece of infrastructure that lots of people rely on."

The leader of the group that organized the protest, Michael Trazzi, is a former AI researcher. He said: "The world is waking up to the dangers of AI. And I think it's time to act now and show that there is public support right now."

Opinions are divided over the pace of AI development. Earlier this month, Anthropic Chief Executive Dario Amodei warned of the need to slow the pace of AI development, citing the risk of losing control of AI systems.

The CEO of OpenAI, Sam Altman, and other tech leaders agreed with him. But US President Donald Trump suggested that the government can secure the safety of AI and rejected growing concerns about the threats it may pose.