On March 23, 2026, nearly 200 AI safety activists from the group Stop the AI Race marched through San Francisco to the offices of OpenAI, Anthropic, and xAI.
The protesters started at Anthropic’s headquarters before heading to OpenAI and xAI. They called on CEOs Sam Altman, Dario Amodei, and Elon Musk to make a public promise: pause work on more powerful AI systems if every other major AI lab does the same.
What sparked the march
Organizers pointed to recent moves by the companies. Anthropic backed off a February pledge to halt development if its AI got too risky. OpenAI shifted toward a for-profit setup, which they say weakens safety focus. India Today reported the group sees frontier AI as an extinction risk because it could automate research and self-improve.
Leader Michael Trazzi, a former AI safety researcher who staged a hunger strike at Google DeepMind, told local media the goal is an enforceable pause once all labs agree. The Times of India noted the timing followed a White House AI policy framework.
Who joined and past actions
- Academics and ex-AI lab staff
- Members from PauseAI and QuitGPT
This follows a QuitGPT protest at OpenAI on March 3 and a PauseAI event in London last month.
None of the companies commented publicly on the demonstration.
