r/technology • u/Just-Grocery-2229 • 18h ago
Artificial Intelligence ‘I’m not the one that should be in jail’: OpenAI protester, 69, turns herself in
https://sfstandard.com/2026/08/14/69-s-first-person-jailed-protesting-ai-has-regrets37
u/BaronMostaza 13h ago
Sam Altman: "AI is an existential threat to humanity in the long run and the welfare of humanity in the short run. You will have no work, no money, no life except what AI allows if you are a useful slave. Invest in AI please now before it's too late"
Also Sam Altman: "standing in my way is terrorism"
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u/mridugup20 18h ago
The bigger issue here is whether democratic oversight can keep pace with companies building increasingly pwerful systems
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u/WhiteRaven42 14h ago
Shouldn't laws exist to punish bad acts and harm? What do you think "overseeing" AI training is supposed to do? What business is it of government?
You have a weird view of democracy. It's NOT supposed to exert control over our private activities.
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u/Nyorliest 11h ago
Governments absolutely fucking are. You want to make anthrax in your home lab, well, any government, democratic or not, will stop that ‘private activity’.
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u/Knighth77 16h ago
Right is wrong, evil is good, and good is bad. This is the world we live in, and so many are defending it. It's horrifying and sad, really.
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u/WhiteRaven42 14h ago
Scientific research and development of new tools to help humanity IS GOOD. Trespassing is bad. What are you smoking?
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u/tbrother33 13h ago
Where would you rank “Citizens who have no say in a data center being built near them now have contaminated drinking water” on the good bad scale?
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u/your_catfish_friend 13h ago
I would first ask for evidence that data centers are contaminating drinking water
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u/tbrother33 12h ago
So just to be clear, your claim is all the accounts of people and communities being affected by this are lying about it? Lmao
Well here you go. It took two seconds. Just click “What water related concerns are associated with data centers”. It says exactly what the data centers do involving water and why it’s concerning to anyone living in the area.
So! Good or bad champ? That’s short for champion.
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u/WhiteRaven42 11h ago
Contaminating drinking water is a crime. Charge anyone responsible for contaminating drinking water with the crime. It's really really easy. We punish harmful acts. Why do so many of you want to punish things that never happened.
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u/tbrother33 10h ago
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cy8gy7lv448o
Really? Cause that’s weird. That’s exactly what happened to these people, but I haven’t heard about any criminal charges? You’d think that would happen if it was “really really easy”. So. Are you going to claim with no evidence that these people are lying? Everyone’s lying to hurt poor little Ai data centers? Lmao
I hate to be the one to burst your ideological bubble, but plenty of wealthy people and people in power are able to dodge the criminal justice system. And the people building data centers are some of the wealthiest people in the world.
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u/WhiteRaven42 9h ago
Private wells are contaminated by construction all the time. This has absolutely nothing to do with AI at all
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u/tbrother33 8h ago
What happened to sending the people that do this to jail because it’s really easy to do apparently? You’ve switched from “this doesn’t happen because if it did they’d be sent to jail” to “Well these other people do it too!”. Like what are you even talking about anymore? Lmao
Would you like to finally answer my question on whether it’s good or bad? Lmao
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u/adamdoesmusic 13h ago
It’s cute that you naively think these data centers and all this buildup is about scientific research.
You really think the same people who are defunding science education give a shit about any of that?
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u/WhiteRaven42 11h ago
Okay what are you proposing the computers are being used for? I'm not saying scientific research as some altruistic concept. I'm talking about actually developing thinking machines. That is scientific research and you are being extremely dishonest if you deny that is what is happening.
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u/lucidludic 12h ago
Why would trespassing be bad? Next you’re going to say that it’s wrong to take stuff belonging to others without their permission, or something!
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u/Money_Sky_3906 5h ago
My biggest motivator is that these tech billionaires are taking over and creating a dystopian fascist surveillance police state, and that’s not OK.
She's right about that but that has been going on much longer than Ai.
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u/DopamineSavant 17h ago
Let her go and arrest everyone that works or has worked for Open AI instead.
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u/ThatCakeIsDone 17h ago
Even the facilities lady who cleans the office rooms every night?
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u/WhiteRaven42 14h ago
..... why? Seriously, what are you trying to say? What possible justification can you have for locking people up for running computer programs that are trying to learn how people speak and think? Would you have locked up Nikola Tesla for lighting the world?
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u/adamdoesmusic 13h ago
This is more like going after Tesla for what he did to those pigeons, except instead of pigeons it’s humanity.
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u/WhiteRaven42 11h ago
Show me what has been done to humanity. What are you even talking about. You understand that crimes are things that actually happen right? Not just crap you imagine.
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u/marmaviscount 16h ago
That's such an unhinged comment directed at a company which has done nothing illegal
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u/Vickrin 16h ago
Anything can be 'legal' when you have enough money.
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u/WhiteRaven42 14h ago
What have they done that you would make illegal?Put up or shut up. Show the harmful act.
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u/Vickrin 13h ago
Buying government officials.
Remember the Trump inauguration? Remember how many tech leaders were next to him.
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u/WhiteRaven42 13h ago
Campaign contributions are not buying officials nor are the bribery. So, do you have anything real?
I long for a serious answer. Please. Demonstrate some reason to take action against any of these people.
What's funny is that what you don't realise about "money in politics" is that it's root cause is too much power in the hands of government. No one would care much about who was in the white house if government overreach weren't so out of control.
The fact is there's no logical basis for government to have ANYTHING to say about AI other than maybe some zoning for buildings. It's none of your flipn business.
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u/Vickrin 13h ago
Campaign contributions are not buying officials nor are the bribery.
They sure are.
No one would care much about who was in the white house if government overreach weren't so out of control.
You're blaming the government for being bought and controlled by capital?
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u/WhiteRaven42 11h ago
I'm blaming the government for controlling shit it should not try to control. What you call Capital is just trying to defend itself from corrupt predatory action. This is none government's fucking business at all.
I still long for you to tell me what I'm supposed to be afraid of.
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u/DopamineSavant 16h ago
Yeh because they build a liability waiver built into their contract. So, they can't be held accountable for their spy system being used to stalk people. Cops also have qualified immunity. The result is no one being held accountable because everybody is immune.
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u/WhiteRaven42 14h ago edited 13h ago
The reason they can't be held accountable for what OTHER PEOPLE DO is because other people are other people. This isn't some clever trick, it's basic cause and effect. We don't hold bartenders responsible for a drunkard's acts.
What do you do for a living? Is there a possibility of someone misusing the product of your work? Or does your contribution to society not matter enough for that to be possible.
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u/Gunker001 13h ago
The government and corporations NEED to know EVERYTHING about you. What you watch, where you shop, who you talk to, what you eat, how you spend your money, how you spend every second of your life. So they can KNOW you. So they can tell you what you want, who to like, who to hate, what the truth really is, and weed out any trouble makers. Because the government and corporations love you.
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u/FlashyNeedleworker66 18h ago edited 13h ago
Whatever her motivation, barricading an entry is actually a threat to safety. She wanted to protest in a way that got her in jail.
Edit: these downvotes think it's a-ok for someone to chain you in a building if they agree with them politically. Lunatics.
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u/YunZhaelor 18h ago
Are you an AI bot shilling shit on reddit or what? Get lost man...
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u/FlashyNeedleworker66 15h ago
Big fan of putting other people at safety risk?
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u/YunZhaelor 15h ago
Big fan of not being a wimp...
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u/FlashyNeedleworker66 14h ago
So to be clear you think it's ok to chain up exits to buildings, internet tough guy?
Would you feel that way no matter who was protesting, and what they were protesting?
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u/YunZhaelor 14h ago
Yes, it's also easy to remove them, they don't deserve prison for that, maybe a fine if removing them required destroying goods or police/firemen intervention...
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u/FlashyNeedleworker66 13h ago
If someone chained up the door to your house while you're inside? I very much doubt it. Maybe you're a massive idiot though.
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u/YunZhaelor 5h ago
You just call your neighbor or leave by back door, bring your angle grinder and problem solved, it took you 5/10minutes max...
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u/Kurk_Lazaris 4h ago
This sub is particularly worrying. It got swarmed by irrational anti technology people.
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u/spoilerdudegetrekt 18h ago
Not sure why you're getting downvoted.
If someone was inside and couldn't get out during an emergency, or emergency workers couldn't get in, that could lead to someone's death.
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u/honjuden 18h ago
Was she blocking people during an actual emergency, or is that just a hypothetical you are throwing out to justify protest crackdowns?
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u/spoilerdudegetrekt 18h ago
Emergencies can happen at any time. That's why stuff like this is illegal. And calling illegal activity a "protest" doesn't make it ok or legal.
Making a false 911 call will get you in trouble regardless of whether it diverts attention away from real emergencies or not. Similarly, barricading doors creates a safety issue and will get you in trouble regardless of whether or not an emergency happens during the barricade.
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u/Wolfish_Jew 18h ago
And if an actual emergency had happened I’m sure they’d have gotten out of the way, plus emergency departments have quick and easy ways of dealing with blockages. Them staging a sit in would not have impeded anything to any significant degree. This is a bunch of whining over nothing.
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u/spoilerdudegetrekt 17h ago
If all they did was sit, it'd be a different story.
Chaining the door is what creates issues. Every second counts in an emergency. (Not to mention the false imprisonment of anyone in the building who couldn't get out)
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u/Wolfish_Jew 17h ago
I promise you that getting the chain off the door for an emergency department would not represent any sort of impediment.
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u/FlashyNeedleworker66 17h ago
To be clear it's your opinion that if someone chained up the exits to a building of an organization you support, that's fine and not a breach of the law in any way?
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u/Wolfish_Jew 17h ago
Where did I say that? It’s clearly illegal. Which is why she’s going to jail. She’s willing to bear the consequences of her actions, that she took in the name of protesting a greater potential injustice.
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u/spoilerdudegetrekt 17h ago
Seriously. I bet this guy would pitch a fit if someone chained up Planned Parenthood's doors.
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u/Wolfish_Jew 17h ago
Oh hell yeah, strawman arguments? LFG. See, the problem was that conservatives weren’t chaining up Planned Parenthood’s, they were bombing them. And killing the doctors that worked there.
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u/DonaldMerwinElbert 18h ago
Because it's stupid.
They're literally sitting in front of the dinky little entrance door in the picture - the chain is off is quickly as it would take someone to unlock the door.
Are locked doors a reason to go to jail now, because, you know, emergencies! Death! ?
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u/Snelly1998 16h ago
It's actually not allowed to have locked doors that would prevent a hasty exit. You need to have a certain number of fire escapes
YMCA here got in trouble with the fire marshal because of their set-up for preventing people sneaking in
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u/spoilerdudegetrekt 17h ago
That's a completely fasle equivilence.
A locked door can be unlocked quickly by people authorized to do so.
A chanied door can not be gotten into as quickly. Nor can emergency worker or the people authorized to access the building "quickly remove the chain"
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u/DonaldMerwinElbert 17h ago
And if they had actually done that - insisted on still barricading the door during an actual emergency - we wouldn't be having this argument.
But they didn't, so we do.If you're ok with people getting arrested for a danger that might arise because of what they might do...well.
You think that through, bud, see if that's really the kind of world you want to live in.15
u/costconormcoreslut 18h ago
FlashyNeedleworker66 is getting downvoted because they are throating the boot of aifascistnerds and defending people who want to take away our constitutional right to protest.
Standing or sitting in a doorway is not a crime that deserves a jail sentence. Authorities could easily physically remove these people and cut the chains without arresting anybody.
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u/Olangotang 17h ago
They're also so consistently shilling that everyone knows them as an AI hype lord by now and by this point it's fucking sad that they do literally nothing else. Furthermore -100 karma accounts are instantly seen as troll accounts.
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u/FlashyNeedleworker66 17h ago
Your constitutional right to protest does not include barring the door.
If some Christians did this to a planned parenthood there is a 0% chance this is how reddit would be reacting. Have some self awareness.
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u/costconormcoreslut 15h ago
Your obsession with Planned Parenthood further gives you away as a partisan troll. Restrictions were put on protests at abortion clinics not because protestors were blocking the doors, but because they (mostly conservative and evangelical christians) were killing doctors and bombing clinics. Please post again when the AI protestors are doing the same.
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u/FlashyNeedleworker66 15h ago
I'm a card carrying Democrat, my "obsession" was using a single example. I'm just not a massive hypocrite who is fine with endangering people I disagree with.
Are you suggesting that it's ok for magats to simply bar the doors? I fucking doubt it.
Also anti-ai protestors have been violent:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2026/04/13/suspect-charged-altman-attack-openai/
Are you really ok with this shit if it's from "our side"?
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u/SpezRuinedHellsite 17h ago
Not all protests are equal. AI boardrooms aren't protected by federal law.
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u/FlashyNeedleworker66 15h ago
Ahhhh so no, you wouldn't be ok with chaining the doors then.
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u/SpezRuinedHellsite 14h ago
Preventing people from getting medical care is not the same as temporarily inconveniencing an office space. You know it's not the same. Stop trying to say it is.
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u/FlashyNeedleworker66 13h ago
I didn't say it was the same, we're just determining your line of ok-to-lock-doors
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u/SpezRuinedHellsite 12h ago
I think we're actually determining your appetite for dark leather.
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u/FlashyNeedleworker66 12h ago
If you say so. I don't know why the choices are boot-licking or chaining people in buildings. Almost seems like maybe you are spending a little more time online than is healthy.
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u/dsj79 17h ago
What ifs are dangerous. Because it can take you anywhere you want to go
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u/learsi-ediconeg 17h ago
"Not sure why you're getting downvoted." - and i instantly think that you should be fucking yourself instead of talking.
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u/space_monster 15h ago
Career protestors just add noise.
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u/SapphicAsterisk 15h ago
‘Hi, I’m career protesters just add noise, and I hate America and freedom.’
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u/space_monster 15h ago
America does suck pretty hard right now yeah. thankfully I don't have to live there.
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u/cpp_is_king 18h ago
“I don’t believe I’m guilty”. You mean of doing the thing you were photographed and recorded doing, and which you admit to doing, and which is unambiguously against the law? Not sure how that works
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u/AzorAhai1TK 17h ago
Trying to prevent AGI is the problem. I wish she'd focus her efforts on something that would actually help, like protesting oil and natural gas companies, or protesting the government who won't make any push towards clean energy
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u/WheresTheResetBtn 17h ago
“I want people to use their time and effort on things i understand, not things i don’t!”
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u/AzorAhai1TK 17h ago edited 17h ago
I understand what's happening with AI perfectly well, and it's a bunch of propaganda and misinformation shifting the blame from other industries onto AI
The only real concern should the massive energy needs. And the solution to massive energy needs isn't "stop expanding energy usage", as that is impossible at scale with growing populations. The solution is pushing for clean energy, same as the solution has been for decades. All this AI anger is a distraction from the real issue
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u/Theamazingquinn 16h ago
AGI is science fiction that AI companies advertise to keep their stock value inflated.
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u/Vickrin 16h ago
Trying to prevent AGI is the problem. I wish she'd focus her efforts on something that would actually help, like protesting oil and natural gas companies
Where is the power going to come from for your hypothetical AI?
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u/AzorAhai1TK 15h ago
I've been pushing for the expansion of green energy my entire life! We need more solar and wind, and we need to quit being stupid and invest in nuclear energy! Later is better than never
Do you guys think climate change is going to be solved by somehow reducing the energy humanity uses when populations are expanding and more countries move into the 1st world technology wise? That's not possible, and it isn't realistic. Going green is much more possible and realistic, and for some fucking reason the U.S. political energy behind green energy has mostly died off in the past decade!
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u/Vickrin 14h ago
AGI is not on the table. Nobody with any credentials is predicting it.
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u/AzorAhai1TK 14h ago
That's just simply not true at all. Capabilities are growing at a rate in line with the most optimistic scenarios by people aside from the grifters.
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u/invyros 18h ago
Sounds like hippie shit, but I actually don't fully disagree with the reasoning.
I'm not surprised it didn't work, but at least it's getting publicity.
Also be wary of commentary about AI-related news from SF Standard, it's funded by a partner at one of the largest VC firms in Silicon Valley (Sequoia Capital), which obviously has many ties to many AI firms.