They built AI. Now Silicon Valley workers protest its threat to jobs and humanity

As the region attracts hundreds of billions of dollars in investment to expand the technology’s reach, Silicon Valley residents are increasingly trying to halt the advancement of artificial intelligence.

Companies and workers around the San Francisco Bay have fueled the global AI boom. Now the nation’s tech hub is at the center of an intense and growing rebellion against its ability to harm and displace people.

Hunter Glenn joined a group of protesters outside the San Francisco headquarters of artificial intelligence pioneer Anthropic on Monday because he worries that artificial intelligence poses a threat not only to jobs but also to humanity.

He was laid off as a copywriter shortly after his company started using artificial intelligence tools.

“They didn’t tell me ‘we’re replacing you with artificial intelligence’, but that’s the impression I got,” he said.

Technology workers and activists held protests across the region this month, warning that as the power of artificial intelligence increases, it will become harder to control.

Leading economists, tech leaders and researchers have warned that AI could change the economy for better or worse and lead to large-scale layoffs. And people are opposing new data centers in their communities.

The public outcry comes as artificial intelligence becomes increasingly intertwined with people’s daily lives, triggering fears as great as humanity’s extinction. Companies are pushing their employees to adopt AI tools to achieve more with fewer people. Young people are increasingly socializing with artificial intelligence chatbots, raising concerns about the impact of technology on mental health. But tech companies show no signs of slowing down as they roll out more powerful AI tools and entice new customers in government, healthcare and other industries.

Glenn attended a protest organized by Stop the AI ​​Race. In a city filled with scores of AI billboards, a large black flag with the group’s name fluttered in the wind as workers entered and exited offices and driverless cars passed by.

This month, Glenn was also among hundreds of protesters who marched on OpenAI, Anthropic and Google DeepMind, urging the companies to stop the AI ​​race, a rivalry that is heating up between the United States and China.

The group and others, who plan to be at Anthropic’s headquarters every day until their demands are met, are pressing for companies to pause training of new AI models. They want governments to sign an international agreement to respond to “potentially catastrophic risks” from artificial intelligence, such as human extinction.

While AI’s threats to jobs are “very real,” Glenn said he is more concerned about AI’s threat to civilization and people’s quality of life.

“We may be winning the artificial intelligence race that will take humanity to second place,” he said.

Michael Trazzi, who founded and manages the Stop the AI ​​Race movement, attracted attention last year when he went on a hunger strike in front of Google DeepMind’s London office. The former AI researcher and filmmaker calls on Demis Hassabis, chief executive of Google DeepMind, to commit to ending the AI ​​race.

“The problem is not that the companies themselves are evil and trying to kill everyone, but mostly if this market risk continues, we will have artificial intelligence smarter than humans, which will be difficult to control,” he said.

Various groups are expanding in the Bay Area and beyond; some are focusing more on layoffs, and others are pushing for actions like exiting OpenAI’s ChatGPT and banning new AI technology development.

The push to adopt more AI tools in the workplace has also raised concerns among tech workers who worry their jobs could be automated in the future. Tech companies like Meta, Amazon, Oracle and others are reducing their global workforces.

Most layoffs occur in California. Laid-off tech workers say it’s getting harder to find their next job.

Tech companies have marketed AI as a tool to assist workers rather than replace them. Still, while some tech executives admit they think the overall workforce will shrink, others say AI will create new jobs. Antropik, OpenAI, Google and Meta did not respond to a request for comment.

Hassabis called on the US to create an AI watchdog to reduce potential risks.

“No one in the world knows for sure what will happen next, and even the experts disagree. When there is so much uncertainty and the risks are so high, proceeding with cautious optimism is a logical and correct strategy.” online post July 14.

Also last week, Google employees demonstrated outside the company’s Mountain View headquarters, calling for stronger protections against layoffs. More than 4,500 Google employees signed a petition demanding protections like voluntary exit packages and guaranteed severance pay.

“As AI is added to my job needs, I also have to worry about whether I’m using it enough, whether I’ll have time to review what it does, or whether it will be good enough to replace me at my job,” Dan Freedman, a staff software engineer at Google and a member of the Communications Workers Union of Alphabet Workers of America, said in a statement.

A third of organizations expect AI to reduce their workforce, with the highest disruptions expected in service operations, supply chain and software engineering. 2026 report Published by the Stanford Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence. The report stated that artificial intelligence affects early career workers, including software developers.

AI chatbots could disrupt creative industries in Hollywood and elsewhere by quickly generating text, code, and other content.

AI content still needs to be controlled by humans, said Jenny Lin, a senior product designer based in San Francisco.

“AI is fast to implement, but implementation has never been the hard part,” he said. “I hope the industry doesn’t use AI as a reason to stop investing in and hiring the next generation of designers.”

Sonny D, an artificial intelligence researcher who declined to give his last name due to surveillance concerns, is in a group called AI Action that focuses on issues such as layoffs.

The activist said he sees AI impacting bus drivers, therapists, architects, designers and other professions. He worries this could worsen working conditions.

He said the emerging AI tech elite wants to “push these technological changes to go beyond regulations, unions, and democracy.”

In California, lawmakers and politicians are working on more guardrails to reduce AI risks even as they face pressure from tech companies to change or water down legislation.

California Governor Gavin Newsom signed an executive order directing the state to review policies and practices that assist displaced workers and efforts to improve education for the unemployed. Newsom also proposed creating a national public capital fund so Americans can have a stake in the future of artificial intelligence.

Holly Elmore, founder and chief executive of PauseAI US, said activists are trying to connect the public with lawmakers.

The group is pushing for a pause in “development of the most dangerous AI systems” until their builders can prove they are safe.

“There’s a lot of pressure to appear pro-innovation, and a lot of fear about appearing behind in this regard,” he said. “This is something that humans need to overcome with AI.”