The QuitGPT protest against OpenAI is about more than the Pentagon

On Tuesday evening a small but energetic and diverse group of about 40 to 50 protesters gathered outside OpenAI's Mission Bay office as part of the nascent QuitGPT movement, chalking hundreds of slogans on the sidewalk. The backlash intensified after OpenAI signed a contract with the Pentagon on Friday, hours after President Donald Trump ordered federal agencies to halt use of Anthropic's Claude; Anthropic's CEO said negotiations had broken down because the rival sought contractual guarantees against mass surveillance and fully autonomous weapons.

The attention also lifted Claude, which rose to No. 1 in the App Store on February 28, and drew public endorsements such as Katy Perry's. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman posted an internal memo saying the company is revising the Pentagon contract to add explicit protections, including a prohibition on surveilling US persons and nationals and a bar on use by intelligence agencies without a separate contract modification.

United States, Mission Bay

quitgpt, openai, pentagon, sam altman, anthropic, claude, protesters, surveillance, autonomous weapons, katy perry