Key facts
- Stop Funding Billionaires said it opposes Anthropic's IPO because a falling AI market could hit retirement savings held in index funds.
- Organizer Jonathan Westin said five protesters were arrested at the New York demonstration, including himself.
- The group used a six foot tall Jenga game, made by a Bay Area artist, at the San Francisco protest.
- Anthropic did not respond to a request for comment, Business Insider reported.
Stop Funding Billionaires staged two protests against Anthropic's planned stock market debut, first outside the AI lab's New York City office on November 9 and then a day later near its San Francisco office, where the group unveiled a six foot tall Jenga game made by a Bay Area artist, Business Insider reported on November 15.
Organizer Jonathan Westin told Business Insider the market feels precarious and described the tech-driven boom as "this very speculative shell game." He said the group worries about Americans' exposure to the risk of the AI market falling.
Fellow organizer Elizabeth Parisian said the concern is that investment risks will be borne by working people, particularly those whose retirement savings sit in index funds. The group made a similar argument when SpaceX began trading in June, protesting that stock's fast-track inclusion in major indexes.
Westin said he was among five protesters arrested at the New York demonstration and that he has no regrets. He said Anthropic is "plowing ahead" despite the concerns and compared it to banks in the 2008 crash. Anthropic did not respond to a request for comment.