Small AI protest in San Francisco as tech leaders dismiss extinction fears

AI critics protested in San Francisco Thursday against rapid AI development, drawing a small crowd as tech CEOs dismissed extinction fears. The march coincided with Dreamforce, which attracted over 40,000 attendees. Protesters, organized by Stop the AI Race, marched from OpenAI to Anthropic and City Hall, urging employees to quit and demanding an international AI treaty. They cited recent researcher resignations over fears of AI escaping human control, including warnings from former Anthropic and DeepMind staff. Tech leaders countered the concerns, with NVIDIA's Jensen Huang arguing safety and speed aren't mutually exclusive, and Meta's Mark Zuckerberg asserting labs have incentives to ensure safe development. Protesters hope to influence policy ahead of Chinese President Xi Jinping's planned Washington visit on Sept. 24.