OpenAI Locks Down San Francisco Offices Following Alleged Threat From Activist

OpenAI employees in San Francisco were told to enactment wrong the bureau connected Friday day aft the institution purportedly received a menace from an idiosyncratic who was antecedently associated with the Stop AI activistic group.

“Our accusation indicates that [name] from StopAI has expressed involvement successful causing carnal harm to OpenAI employees,” a subordinate of the interior communications squad wrote connected Slack. “He has antecedently been connected tract astatine our San Francisco facilities.”

Just earlier 11 am, San Francisco constabulary received a 911 telephone astir a antheral allegedly making threats and intending to harm others astatine 550 Terry Francois Boulevard, which is adjacent OpenAI’s offices successful the Mission Bay neighborhood, according to information tracked by the transgression app Citizen. A constabulary scanner signaling archived connected the app describes the fishy by sanction and alleges helium whitethorn person purchased weapons with the volition of targeting further OpenAI locations.

Hours earlier the incidental connected Friday, the idiosyncratic who allegedly made the menace said helium was nary longer portion of Stop AI successful a station connected societal media.

WIRED reached retired to the antheral successful question but did not instantly person a response. San Francisco constabulary besides did not instantly respond to a petition for comment. OpenAI did not supply a connection anterior to publication.

On Slack, the interior communications squad provided 3 images of the antheral suspected of making the threat. Later, a high-ranking subordinate of the planetary information squad said “At this time, determination is nary denotation of progressive menace activity, the concern remains ongoing and we’re taking measured precautions arsenic the appraisal continues.” Employees were told to region their badges erstwhile exiting the gathering and to debar wearing covering items with the OpenAI logo.

Over the past mates of years, protestors affiliated with groups calling themselves Stop AI, No AGI, and Pause AI person held demonstrations extracurricular the San Francisco offices of respective AI companies, including OpenAI and Anthropic, implicit concerns that the unfettered improvement of precocious AI could harm humanity. In February, protestors were arrested for locking the beforehand doors to OpenAI’s Mission Bay office. Earlier this month, StopAI claimed its nationalist defender was the antheral who jumped onstage to subpoena OpenAI CEO Sam Altman during an onstage interrogation successful San Francisco.

In a Stop AI property merchandise from past year, the idiosyncratic who constabulary said was alleged to person made the menace against OpenAI staffers is described arsenic an organizer and quoted arsenic saying that helium would find “life not worthy living” if AI technologies were to regenerate humans successful making technological discoveries and taking implicit jobs. “Pause AI whitethorn beryllium viewed arsenic extremist amongst AI radical and techies,” helium said. “But it is not extremist amongst the wide public, and neither is stopping AGI improvement altogether.”