At the center of Tuesday’s action was a demand that the public have a say before AI development continues. About two dozen people gathered outside OpenAI’s Mission Bay headquarters, holding signs and calling for an immediate pause; organizers said the coordinated walkout extended to 50 U.S. cities and college campuses, according to KQED.
Bay Area participants also urged Congress to introduce more meaningful regulations governing how AI is built and released, KQED reported.
The San Francisco event followed a specific itinerary laid out ahead of time: a gathering at Bayfront Park at 11:30 a.m., followed by a rally with speakers at 11:45 a.m. outside OpenAI's office on 3rd Street, as noted by KRON4. Irreplaceable and Stop The AI Race were named as among the groups behind the San Francisco action, the station's report notes.
Organizers Want the Public, Not CEOs, Deciding AI's Future
Irreplaceable, one of the lead organizing groups, framed the demonstration as a fight over who gets to steer the technology's trajectory. “It's time for the people to determine the future of AI, not big tech CEOs,” the group said, according to its own campaign page at irreplaceable.org. The organization's stated demands include an immediate freeze on AI development and deployment until the public has a say, along with an economic stake in AI's benefits and stronger safeguards, per kron4.com's reporting on the planned walkout.
Irreplaceable has also tied its campaign to a broader list of grievances, saying its concerns include AI-related job losses, climate damage, and surveillance of communities. The group's language is blunt: it has accused the AI industry of “stealing our work, destroying jobs, wrecking our climate, and surveilling our communities,” according to its posted materials.
Part of a Monthslong Pattern of AI Protests in San Francisco
Protests Target AI Development in San Francisco Tuesday's walkout brought demonstrators outside OpenAI's San Francisco office to demand a pause on AI development.
The San Francisco rally was part of a broader nationwide walkout.
A Wider Reckoning Over Jobs and Risk
The debate extends beyond this rally. The Los Angeles Times has reported that tech workers have protested the AI boom they helped create, citing job losses, runaway algorithms and fears that powerful systems could imperil humanity.
The Los Angeles Times has also described San Francisco Bay Area residents as conflicted about artificial intelligence, given that they live at the center of the industry driving its development.
AI Opposition Beyond the Bay Area
The same-day walkout also drew participation in the Boston area.
Workers, professors and students from colleges and universities across the Boston area planned their own walkout Tuesday to demand a freeze on AI development, joining the nationwide effort, GBH News reported.
San Francisco’s Guidance for City Use of AI
San Francisco’s November 2023 Generative AI Guidelines advised city personnel to review AI-generated content, disclose its use and avoid entering sensitive information into public AI tools, according to the San Francisco Generative AI Guidelines.
