Two activists have launched hunger strikes outside Google DeepMind’s London office and Anthropic’s US headquarters, demanding a pause in advanced AI development. They argue that tech companies are engaged in a dangerous race to build increasingly powerful systems, risking global harm.
In the US, 45-year-old activist Guido Reichstadter has refused food for more than a week, surviving only on water, electrolytes, and multivitamins. He said he would continue until Anthropic responds to his concerns. Reichstadter personally delivered a letter to CEO Dario Amodei, urging him to end frontier AI research. Known for his past climate protests, he also founded “Stop AI,” a group campaigning to ban Artificial Superintelligence.
Outside DeepMind’s London office, 29-year-old Michael Trazzi, a former AI safety researcher from France, has also joined the hunger strike. He called on DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis to commit publicly to halting new frontier model releases if other major AI firms agree. Trazzi, who studied AI in Paris and worked at Oxford’s Future of Humanity Institute, believes public pressure could push companies toward coordination.
The protests come amid growing warnings from experts, including AI pioneer Geoffrey Hinton, about the risks of unchecked AI development. Even Anthropic’s Amodei has cautioned that AI could disrupt global employment, potentially eliminating half of all entry-level white-collar jobs within five years.
