Protest in San Francisco: Activists Demand a Freeze on the AI Giants Race
On July 11, about 200 people held a march in San Francisco, walking between the offices of key players in the artificial intelligence industry — OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google DeepMind. The protesters' main demand is an immediate halt to training more powerful AI models.
The organizer was the Stop the AI Race movement. It is important to emphasize: activists are not insisting on shutting down already operating services. Their proposal is far more pragmatic — to preserve current models and temporarily redirect developers' resources to applied systems, improving safety, and aligning AI behavior. This is not a call for technological regression, but a demand for a strategic pause.
Politicization of the Issue and New Allies
March participants touched on a wide range of issues: from job losses and the environmental impact of data centers to the strain on the energy grid and rising housing costs in San Francisco, driven by tech giants. Some demonstrators called on state authorities and local legislators to strengthen oversight of advanced AI systems.
Former AI researcher and march organizer Mikael Trazzi stated a shift in the movement's strategy. Previously, the focus was on convincing company leaders. Now, activists are targeting the political agenda. "Protests are useful: they show that people care," Trazzi noted. According to him, the action was supported by the National Union of Healthcare Workers, as well as groups AI Action and QuitGPT.
This is the second major march by Stop the AI Race. In March, a similar action gathered about 200 people outside the offices of Anthropic, OpenAI, and xAI, demanding a coordinated pause.
Recall that in July, former OpenAI employee Daniel Kokotajlo proposed slowing down the AI race until 2040, presenting a scenario for an agreement between the US and China to limit the development of superintelligence.
My analysis: The trend is clear: public pressure on the AI sector is evolving from targeted actions into a systemic political movement. If protests were once seen as marginal, the involvement of unions and calls to lawmakers signal a brewing regulatory storm. Investors should consider that the AI "arms race" may face not only technical but also serious political constraints.