OpenAI's offices in San Francisco have been locked down after a threat from an individual who was previously associated with the Stop AI activist group. The alleged threat, posted on OpenAI's internal Slack channel, claimed that the individual had expressed interest in causing physical harm to OpenAI employees.
According to sources, the man at the center of the incident has a history of involvement with Stop AI and other groups critical of AI development. He was reportedly arrested last month for jumping onstage during an interview with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman.
The threat came after hours of protests outside the San Francisco offices of several AI companies, including OpenAI and Anthropic, which have been held in recent months over concerns about the potential risks of advanced AI.
Police received a 911 call on Friday morning about a man allegedly making threats at 550 Terry Francois Boulevard, near OpenAI's office. The individual, who was previously associated with Stop AI, claimed to have purchased weapons with the intention of targeting additional OpenAI locations.
Hours before the incident, the man had posted on social media that he was no longer part of Stop AI and was distancing himself from the group's message.
OpenAI employees were told to stay inside the office and remove their badges when exiting the building as a precautionary measure. The company has not yet commented on the incident.
According to sources, the man at the center of the incident has a history of involvement with Stop AI and other groups critical of AI development. He was reportedly arrested last month for jumping onstage during an interview with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman.
The threat came after hours of protests outside the San Francisco offices of several AI companies, including OpenAI and Anthropic, which have been held in recent months over concerns about the potential risks of advanced AI.
Police received a 911 call on Friday morning about a man allegedly making threats at 550 Terry Francois Boulevard, near OpenAI's office. The individual, who was previously associated with Stop AI, claimed to have purchased weapons with the intention of targeting additional OpenAI locations.
Hours before the incident, the man had posted on social media that he was no longer part of Stop AI and was distancing himself from the group's message.
OpenAI employees were told to stay inside the office and remove their badges when exiting the building as a precautionary measure. The company has not yet commented on the incident.
, gotta say, really worried about the safety of these ppl working at OpenAI. all this protest stuff is getting outta hand, some people gonna get hurt 
. think it's crazy that someone would make threats like that, esp after they're already associated with a group that's been causing trouble 
. hope the police can figure out who it was and take action ASAP 
. this whole AI thing is already making me nervous, don't need some crazy person making things worse 
.
, its just so weird...
, and the fact that this guy was arrested last month for somethin else just shows how serious these protests are getting...
, we can have some kinda constructive convo about the pros and cons of advanced AI without resortin to threats and arrests...
. Can't say I blame OpenAI for being cautious, but it feels like they're missing the point - if someone's really that passionate about something, shouldn't we be having a discussion about it, not hiding behind locked doors? It just seems like a whole lotta drama over AI 
.
. It's crazy that someone with this kind of history could make such a threat, especially after jumping onstage and causing a scene during an interview last month 
. I'm all for people expressing their opinions and concerns about AI development, but not at the cost of physical harm 
. It's like, can't we just have a calm conversation about this stuff instead of resorting to threats and violence?
.
. Anyway, I hope OpenAI employees are okay and can get back to work soon 
... I mean, who needs a script like 'The Avengers' when you've got a guy with a grudge and some spare change 
? 
. On the bright side, at least they're making it interesting for the cops... " Officer, we've got a Code Brown... er, I mean, Code Red" 
.
I don't get why companies like OpenAI can't just have some basic security measures in place, you know? Like, an actual alarm system or something 
a guy tries to stop ai but ends up getting blocked by his own internet 
