YOU have the power: my Stop the AI Race speech
On 4/21/26, the largest AI Safety protest in US history was held in San Francisco. This is what I said to the crowd.
I ended up extemporizing but here is the draft I wrote.
My name is Holly Elmore and I’m the founder of PauseAI US and cofounder of the global PauseAI movement. We are the earliest AI Safety advocacy organization, and we held the first AI Safety protests in the world and the US, asking for a global treaty for an indefinite pause on frontier AI development.
When I held the first group AI Safety protest in the US in September 2023, there were only 25 of us. I had never organized a protest before. I felt like I was going to throw up the entire week before.
And when the organizer of this protest, Michael Trazzi, saw that I did that and invited me on his podcast, I was still nervous about making the case for pause. But to see that I could provide a spark for Micheal’s activism, and now to see all of you… You’re doing so much more than you know. Even if you’re not sure exactly what to do or say, you’re HERE and you’re showing that you can stand up to the companies putting us all in danger.
We need more time.
We need to Pause frontier AI development if we’re ever going to have time and latitude to even see if superintelligence could be safe and respect human consent. And if we find out it can’t be, then we need to keep superintelligence paused forever.
The governance of superintelligence has to represent the stakeholders of Earth— all people. AI companies cannot grade their own homework. They cannot be allowed to hold so much power that they eclipse democracy. Building superintelligence themselves AND being solely in charge of deciding when to regulate themselves— at the cost of falling behind in the race— is a recipe for corruption.
So a conditional pause is the least they could do:
It would be great if the AI companies cooperated by agreeing to pause if the other frontier AI developers agreed to pause. This way they don’t get behind while regulators and society have a chance to catch up and provide external oversight. This is the AI companies’ chance to put a ceiling on themselves before laws stop them, and maybe before they get us killed.
A conditional pause agreement requires nothing of the AI companies unless all the frontier labs agree. If these companies value safety and want to avoid AI harms up to and including extinction, they should leap at the chance to Stop the AI Race.
I sincerely hope the AI companies will heed our demand and adopt conditional pause pledges voluntarily.
But remember, we have the power!
What I want you protestors and the world to pay attention to is how unacceptable it is that this decision is in their hands. It is OUR right as citizens of the world not to be under threat from AI experiments.
We AREN’T marching to beg the AI companies to be merciful and spare our lives— we are marching to show the world that we don’t have to lay down and accept our unelected overlords. The right and the power to curb dangerous AI development is already ours! We will not stop here— whether AI companies agree to the most basic request to stop the AI race or not, your presence here makes it impossible for them to make excuses that they have no choice but to race ahead.
Don’t let them make excuses!
Anthropic says it wants to stop the race, but it can’t agree to a conditional pause bc:
A conditional pause looks “anti-competitive”. I was told this directly when I asked if the company would sign a conditional pause statement two years ago. Well then why did Demis Hassabis indicate interest after Michael’s hunger strike?
“But China”— they don’t have to pause until Chinese labs agree to pause too! For now, the wording is still in their hands.
According to Holden Karnofsky, agreeing to a pause will “hurt the company”. How is Anthropic concerned about safety if they won’t put it above business?
So if Anthropic will not pledge to a conditional pause now, you know they never will on their own. This is their olive branch.
Today we march for an audience of the world:
Not the AI companies who treat our safety and autonomy so cavalierly. We’re giving them the chance to BEGIN to curb the risk they’ve exposed us to, and we’re doing it in front of everyone. If they agree to a conditional pause, great! If they don’t, they show the world that they won’t take the smallest step to end the AI race that they blame for all the harm they are doing. Either way, what matters is that WE are holding them accountable.
Every move toward external oversight of the AI companies takes us closer. Every move toward accountability for the AI companies takes us closer. Every new person who is emboldened to advocate for themselves and the world takes us closer.
Each of you will inspire so many others. Some of you brought your friends here. Other friends are thinking seriously about pausing AI for the first time bc of your example. People will see you in photos in the newspaper or online and see that THEY could show up and be heard too. Each act of courage kindles more courage.
So let’s stop the AI Race!
Is there a full recording somewhere? Would love to watch the whole thing!
"On 4/21/26, the largest AI Safety protest in US history was held in San Francisco. This is what I said to the crowd."
This shows how far things have gone - these machines have already kidnapped Holly and taken her to the future. Personally I'm devastated!