Dramatic Hunger Strike Against Uncontrolled AI Development

Guido Reichstadter is confronting the offices of the AI company Anthropic in San Francisco with a heroic, albeit risky protest. For 24 days, the activist has reinforced his appeal through a hunger strike directly in front of the company's headquarters at 500 Howard Street. While couriers deliver food daily to the inconspicuous office high-rise, Reichstadter consumes only electrolytes and vitamins to draw attention to the alleged dangers posed by advanced artificial intelligence. On the platform X, the 56-year-old activist accused developers of racing towards extremely powerful AI systems without credible control plans. His demand is led by a clear message: Anthropic and its CEO Dario Amodei should recognize the existential risks and immediately stop the pursuit of superintelligence. Reichstadter criticizes that the company remains silent while simultaneously endangering the people it unwittingly supplies. Reichstadter is known for his drastic protest actions. In the past, he has blocked the doors of OpenAI and organized demonstrations at Google DeepMind. He found support from Michael Trazzi and Denys Sheremet, who initiated similar hunger strikes in London but recently stopped. Sheremet ended his protest after 16 days without calories and continued to express hope that DeepMind would take steps to mitigate the race towards dangerous AI. Although local media such as the *San Francisco Standard* and *SFGate* report on Reichstadter's involvement, Anthropic remains silent on his demands. The conveyed self-perception as a leading player in AI safety is vehemently denounced by the activist as a "lie." Discussions in forums like the Effective Altruism Forum amplify the call for an immediate cessation of what is labeled irresponsible AI development by Anthropic and demand that the handling of AI be treated as an emergency. Whether his fast will lead to an open discourse or end in personal tragedy remains uncertain. The effect of a hunger strike ultimately depends on whether the public is shocked into awareness. For Reichstadter, a lot is at stake as he bets on the public recognizing the urgency of his cause.