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(Joe Wilkins Avatar)   By (https://futurism.com/authors/jwilkins) Joe Wilkins      Published  Aug 11, 2026 2:28 PM EDT           (https://www.google.com/preferences/source?q=futurism.com) Add Futurism (opens in a new tab)      More information Adding us as a Preferred Source in Google by using this link indicates that you would like to see more of our content in Google News results.        (Photos show protesters being arrested at a protest against ChatGPT maker OpenAI.)   Earl Aguila    Sign up to see the future, today  Can’t-miss innovations from the bleeding edge of science and tech  (handle_newsletter_email_submission) (2a593959a7)  (/artificial-intelligence/protesters-arrested-protest-openai-washington-dc)  (FUTinline) (0) Email address  (Enter your email) (Please enter a valid email address)  Sign Up  Thank you!           Over 30 student activists came together on Monday afternoon to occupy the Gallup Building in Washington DC, home to a public-facing lobbying office belonging to ChatGPT developer OpenAI. Once inside the lobby, the demonstrators unfurled a massive banner reading “Stop Stealing Our Future,” while others held signs with messages like “OpenAI bought my Senator.” The demonstration lasted two hours, and ended when police stormed the lobby, arresting 13 protestors. An incident report obtained from the Metropolitan Police Department confirmed that 13 people were arrested for “unlawful entry.” By Wednesday, all of the activists had been released, according to a person familiar with the matter. (A group of protesters are holding signs that say "OpenAI bought my senator" and unfurling a banner that says "stop stealing our futures")   The protest was organized by the climate group Sunrise Movement and anti-AI organization QuitGPT. According to a joint statement shared withFuturism , Monday’s action is just one of many across over 20 states in August calling on politicians to “Dump Big Tech.” One student organizer who attended the protest, Raya Gupta, explained in the statement that “my friends chose to risk arrest to bring the fight to OpenAI.” “Our generation doesn’t have any guarantees about whether we’ll have jobs after college, or whether there will be clean drinking water for all of us or whether people will have any power left in politics since our elections keep getting bought by Big Tech,” Gupta continued. “We all believe that not taking action now, as the scales slide between the people and the billionaires, puts our future in great jeopardy.” (A protester holds a sign that says "OpenAI bought my senator")   Gupta’s comments underscore the degree to which AI has become an (https://futurism.com/artificial-intelligence/ai-industry-ads-public-backlash) omni-cause for Americans across the political spectrum. A growing number of people in the US have been (https://futurism.com/artificial-intelligence/high-school-teacher-arrested-clapping-data-center-activist) arrested for protests related to AI in some shape or form, whether attending (https://futurism.com/artificial-intelligence/high-school-teacher-arrested-clapping-data-center-activist) town hall meetings to oppose data center developments, or (https://vnews.com/2026/02/11/williston-ice-protest-arrests/) occupying offices used by federal agencies to tool out AI immigration software. Despite growing disgust with AI and its developers, politicians on both sides of the aisle have roundly embraced the tech industry’s extremely expensive lobbying efforts. Case in point, the recent opening of (https://www.bizjournals.com/washington/news/2026/05/13/openai-dc-office-gallup-building-penn-quarter.html) OpenAI’s DC Office comes as one of the AI lab’s super PACs injects over (https://www.breakingviews.com/columns/considered-view/ai-ballot-box-cash-augurs-fairer-fight-than-crypto-2026-08-07/) $140 million into the coming midterm elections, in a blatant attempt to steer AI regulations at the highest level. Updated with new information from the MPD.  More on AI protests:  (https://futurism.com/artificial-intelligence/climate-activists-microsoft-ai-data-center-acid-balloons) Climate Activists Pelt Microsoft Data Center With Balloons Full of Acid    (https://futurism.com/authors/jwilkins) (Joe Wilkins Avatar)   (https://futurism.com/authors/jwilkins) Joe Wilkins   Correspondent    I’m a tech and labor correspondent for Futurism, where my beat includes the role of emerging technologies in governance, surveillance, and labor.   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