The idea of artificial general intelligence (AGI), a synthetic entity matching or surpassing human cognitive abilities, is highly divisive.
For individuals like OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, AGI represents a guiding mission, directing the company’s $300 billion operations. However, for activists like Guido Reichstadter, it poses an existential threat that must be challenged.
Reichstadter is on the ninth day of a challenging anti-AGI hunger strike outside the San Francisco headquarters of Anthropic, an AI giant. He has previously faced arrest for blocking OpenAI’s doors, with the legal consequences still unfolding.
“These companies are building systems that surpass human capabilities in significant ways, creating a new level of danger,” Reichstadter told Futurism from Anthropic’s sidewalk. “Despite speculative benefits, these companies lack control measures for the power they aim to create.”
“These companies have no right to endanger my life and everyone’s lives,” he continued. “The responsible action is to halt the global pursuit of perilous AI technologies.”
At first, Anthropic might seem an unusual target for an anti-AGI protest. Its CEO, Dario Amodei, describes AGI as a “marketing term,” standing out as a contrarian in a realm dominated by tech billionaires.
Despite Amodei’s critical stance, he appears optimistic about AGI’s imminent arrival.
Anthropic’s cofounder, Benjamin Mann, predicted that AGI could emerge by 2027 or 2028, potentially raising unemployment to 20 percent. Amodei believes human-level AI could address societal issues, from mass poverty to “curing most mental illness.”
Reichstadter argues that if Anthropic’s leaders were truly concerned about AGI, their rapid expansion wouldn’t suggest it. Since launching their AI model, Claude, in 2023, Anthropic has grown significantly and completed its sixth funding round, raising $13 billion for AI development.
For Reichstadter, the hunger strike is a means to rally those critical of the tech industry’s AGI ambitions and highlight the existential threat posed by AI companies like Anthropic. The strike will persist until the CEO addresses him.
“If Dario Amodei refuses to stop, he should explain himself to me,” the activist stated. “I aim to halt their work or receive an explanation.”
On day nine, Reichstadter has entered the “ketosis phase” of the strike, where the body uses fat for energy due to lack of food. He reports feeling “okay,” having completed a two-week hunger strike previously against climate change.
The activist’s efforts are gaining momentum. Shortly after his protest began in San Francisco, a couple of protesters joined hunger strikes outside Google’s DeepMind in London. Although these actions weren’t pre-arranged, Reichstadter welcomes the support.
“Why are we passive when our lives are risked?” he demands. “Let’s seal their doors shut.”
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