Protesters Greet OpenAI's DevDay With Chants of "People Over Profit"

OpenAI's annual developer conference got an unwelcome opening act on Tuesday. Outside the entrance to DevDay at San Francisco's Fort Mason, a crowd of protesters marched in a circle, chanting "Sam Altman, get off it, put people over profit" in front of signs spelling out "PEOPLE OVER PROFIT."

More than a dozen organizations sponsored the rally. They included Bay Resistance, the Tech Workers Coalition, the Service Employees International Union, San Francisco Rising and the San Francisco Labor Council. The mix of tech-worker groups and traditional labor unions suggests the criticism of OpenAI now reaches well beyond the usual AI safety debate.

One of the most prominent messages was a large orange sign reading "Drop the ICE contract." That appears to refer to work tied to U.S. immigration enforcement, and it made clear that government business is a central grievance for the demonstrators. Flyers were also handed out to people heading into the event.

The rally had a playful side too. Several participants wore cardboard robot costumes and waved cardboard signs, a nod to the technology the company sells even as they objected to how it is being deployed.

For OpenAI, the timing is awkward. DevDay is meant to be a showcase for developers, with product announcements and a friendly pitch to the people building on its platform. Instead, attendees had to walk past a picket line on the way in. The protest does not change what the company plans to unveil, but it adds to a growing pile of public pressure over its commercial direction, its leadership and its ties to government agencies.

It is unclear how large the crowd was beyond the "more than a dozen" sponsoring groups, and OpenAI's response was not part of the initial reporting. Still, the message from organizers was simple and repeated loudly: they want the company to prioritize workers and communities over revenue.