Activists Protest Outside OpenAI DevDay, Demand Military and ICE Contract Cuts

Dozens of activists demonstrated outside OpenAI's annual developer conference at the Fort Mason Center in San Francisco on Tuesday, calling on the company to sever its contracts with the U.S. military and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

The protesters, organized by the group Bay Resistance, marched, chanted and carried signs and banners outside the venue as OpenAI CEO Sam Altman prepared to deliver his keynote address.

"We're out here protesting OpenAI because they're collaborating with this authoritarian regime," said Jane Martin, an organizer with Bay Resistance. She said the group was asking Altman to sign a "democracy pledge" to stand against authoritarian overreach and any attack on the midterm elections, to end the company's military contract, and to ensure OpenAI tools are not used by ICE.

Yuan Wang, another activist with the group, said the demonstration drew people from many backgrounds, including renters and workers concerned about AI's effects on water, electricity, bills and jobs. "This technology that is so consequential for all of our lives — decisions about it should be made by regular, everyday working people," Wang said. "We should have a say."

Wang added that the group wants OpenAI to cancel its Pentagon contracts immediately and to prevent ICE and other institutions from using its technology. Beyond that, she said, working people should have a role in how AI is regulated and governed.

Martin argued that the current impact of AI is already severe, citing its use in harming the climate and undermining working standards. "We believe that there could be technology that helps working people, that builds a better future for future generations. But without regulation, that's not what we're seeing," she said.

Inside the conference, Altman introduced what he described as a "remarkably capable, always-on" artificial intelligence agent, along with a series of product announcements and updates. The new agents, called Dots, are designed to complete ongoing tasks proactively on behalf of users and will compete with Meta's personal agent Muse, which gained popularity after Meta's own conference last week.

Altman said the agents would be "like an AI helper that always has your back, inspired by the cool versions of what we all watched in movies growing up."

The announcements came a day after OpenAI said it was holding off on releasing a more advanced model because of concerns raised by its researchers. That decision followed broader calls within the industry to slow the pace of technological development so that safety measures can catch up.

Altman did not address the shelved model's security concerns during his keynote, but said in a question-and-answer session that the company was investing more in safety, security and monitoring of AI agents. He also said the current AI boom should be viewed more as a renaissance than an industrial revolution.

The conference took place as Altman's industry peers met with President Donald Trump on Tuesday. While many in Silicon Valley have urged the government to establish guardrails for AI, Trump has opposed greater government oversight of the technology.