Dozens Protest Outside OpenAI Mission Bay Offices Over Pentagon Contract

Dozens of protesters gathered outside OpenAI’s Mission Bay headquarters to denounce the company’s newly announced contract with the U.S. Department of Defense, the original report on the demonstration said. The gathering, held at the entrance to OpenAI’s San Francisco office in Mission Bay, included speakers and chants; one account reproduced a truncated chant fragment as “Fire Sa.”

The rally took place March 3, 2026, and crowd estimates varied by outlet - Bloomberg put the number at about 30. Organizers included a group identifying itself as QuitGPT, and participants included activists who have in the past affiliated with Stop AI, No AGI and PauseAI, groups that have staged multiple demonstrations at Bay Area AI company offices over the past couple of years.

Protesters pressed broad demands at the Mission Bay site, calling for OpenAI to be shut down and for a permanent government ban on development of artificial general intelligence, KTVU reported. KTVU also quoted a Stop AI protester who said, “They have no proof that, that system, that smarter-than-human system will stay safe forever. And without that proof, they should never build it.” KTVU reported some at the rally warned AGI could cause “human extinction.”

Tensions at the entrance led to police action. KTVU, citing the San Francisco Chronicle, reported that three protesters were arrested for trespassing after allegedly refusing to move from company property. KTVU also noted that organizers had said beforehand that at least six people would risk arrest “by sitting down in front of OpenAI’s doors.”

The March 3 demonstration follows a month that included other confrontations and a reported security scare. Wired reported OpenAI told employees to stay inside after the company purportedly received a threat tied to an individual previously associated with StopAI; an internal Slack message quoted by Wired read, “Our information indicates that [name] from StopAI has expressed interest in causing physical harm to OpenAI employees. He has previously been on site at our San Francisco facilities.” Wired said San Francisco police received a 911 call just before 11 am about a man allegedly making threats at 550 Terry Francois Boulevard, near OpenAI’s offices, and that a police scanner archived on the Citizen app described a suspect by name and alleged he may have purchased weapons. Wired also reported the person flagged on the scanner said on social media hours earlier that he was no longer part of Stop AI. The supplied accounts do not connect that Friday lockdown directly to the March 3 protest or print the suspect’s name.

Activist networks behind Saturday’s action have a documented history in San Francisco. Forum Effectivealtruism noted that before StopAI’s founding, Sam Kirchner organized protests under the name No AGI and that PauseAI US collaborated with Kirchner on a February 12, 2024 protest in front of OpenAI’s Mission campus. Forum Effectivealtruism also quoted PauseAI US saying, “PauseAI is a law-abiding organization. Protests are undertaken legally, in consultation with the authorities and any on-site security of the location,” and describing internal vetting of signs and volunteers assigned to prevent sidewalk obstruction.

At Saturday’s rally there were also renewed calls for investigation into the death of former OpenAI employee and whistleblower Sunchir Balaji. KTVU reported Balaji was found dead in his San Francisco apartment in November 2024, a month after a New York Times article featuring his copyright claims; the county medical examiner ruled his death a suicide and his parents are suing the city and county of San Francisco. KTVU reported that OpenAI “expressed their condolences at the time of Balaji’s death” and said the company reached out to the San Francisco Police Department if it could assist.

With repeated demonstrations, February arrests for locking the front doors at OpenAI’s Mission Bay office and a recent alleged threat that prompted an office lockdown near 550 Terry Francois Boulevard, the exchanges between activists and OpenAI show a pattern of escalating confrontations in San Francisco. Outstanding questions in public accounts include the identity and legal status of the person named in the police scanner and the precise links, if any, between the recent threat reports and the March 3 protest.