Some people are angry with OpenAI, and it’s about more than just the company’s deal with the Pentagon.
On Tuesday evening, I visited the OpenAI headquarters in Mission Bay, San Francisco, and I was met with a relatively small but energetic and diverse group of protesters, each with very different demands. This protest was part of the nascent QuitGPT movement; between 40 and 50 people attended, holding signs and chalking hundreds of slogans on the sidewalk.
OpenAI triggered widespread backlash when it signed a contract with the Pentagon on Friday, hours after President Donald Trump ordered federal agencies to halt use of Anthropic’s Claude. The negotiation between the Pentagon and Anthropic had broken down because the OpenAI rival sought contractual guarantees against mass surveillance and fully autonomous weapons, its CEO said in a statement.
The backlash against OpenAI sparked a wave of support for Anthropic, including Katy Perry, who publicly endorsed and subscribed to Claude AI. Calls to abandon ChatGPT in favor of Claude spread rapidly across social media, and the momentum showed up in the download charts. Claude shot to No. 1 in the App Store on February 28, up from sixth place.
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OpenAI CEO Sam Altman posted an internal memo to X on Monday and said the company is revising its contract with the Pentagon to add explicit protections, including a prohibition on surveilling US persons and nationals and a bar on use by intelligence agencies such as the NSA without a separate contract modification. Altman also acknowledged the rushed rollout in his memo, admitting the company “got things wrong” and that the deal “looked opportunistic and sloppy.” The Pentagon did not respond to Business Insider’s questions about the amended deal.
I talked to six at Tuesday’s protest, who were skeptical of the revised deal, but there were also broader concerns about AI’s rapid rise and the tech industry.
Many attendees were there for climate concerns
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Wearing a shirt that reads “we have a right to good jobs and a livable future,” Perrin Milliken told me that she has always been a climate advocate and is here to oppose data centers, which she said are an act that puts the need for AI before human needs.
“AI is taking water from communities, polluting communities, and it is also increasing communities’ electricity bills,” Milliken said.
“They’re not even paying for it — we are,” Milliken added of tech companies.
“I want water to drink, not AI to think,” reads a sign held up by a protester.
Tech companies are becoming symbols of wealth inequality
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Sarah Gao, who took to the stage to speak, expressed disapproval of billionaires and the resources they take up.
“Sam Altman lives in a super villain’s mansion here in San Francisco,” Guo told the crowd, which immediately booed. “In a city that struggles with affordable housing, his sprawling compound features an underground to house luxury cars, an art gallery, a stand-alone spa cottage, and occupies an entire city block.”
“Sam and his billionaire buddies helped Trump with his disastrous budget bills that stole trillions of dollars from everyday Americans just to line their pockets,” Guo added.
Behind Guo, signs that call the tech industry “big trouble for humanity” and the billionaire CEOs “oligarchs” stood tall.
Some are rejecting AI entirely on principle
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When I spoke to Meghan Matson, she told me that she has completely rejected using AI and felt like it was “bad news” from the start.
“I know that AI is participating with me, but I’m not participating with AI,” said Matson.
“As soon as I saw it start showing up in visuals and imagery, I could see exactly where it heads,” Matson added. “It destroys journalism, it destroys art, it destroys the expression of our common humanity.”
“Stop AI stealing art, writing, electricity, water, jobs,” reads a large chalk writing on the street in front of the OpenAI office.
At least one participant was a tech worker unhappy with how their work is used
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“I’m an active AI user. I love AI, and I use it every day, to write, to program, to learn,” said a 26-year-old who works in the tech industry who declined to be named.
“What I don’t want is for the technologies that my friends and I build to be used to undermine the freedom we value,” he added.
He told me that he made the robot mask yesterday with a cardboard box, black duct tape, and LED lights.
“I spent $12 on this,” he said of his robot mask. “I bet a lot more people are gonna pay attention to this than OpenAI’s next million-dollar ad.”
