If this comes from the EA side of things, people should know that the optics of “paid protests” are widely regarded as absolutely horrible! It’s a good way to a) make it look like you have no popular support, b) alienate potential supporters by affiliating your movement with random people who need $30 badly, and c) show that you are not taking this politics thing seriously.
If this doesn’t come from the EA side of things, maybe some people should look into where it’s coming from?
According to people I know who have personally seen the flyers, there are flyers offering to pay people to protest a recent Sam Altman appearance (unclear why they’re mad at Sam Altman, there are many reasons why they might be mad at him). However, the protest was cancelled because of ???. https://www.wunc.org/education/2026-09-02/protest-chapel-hill-unc-g20-innovation-technology-sam-altman-elon-musk-artificial-intelligence gives a bit of coverage of the story.
If this comes from the EA side of things, people should know that the optics of “paid protests” are widely regarded as absolutely horrible! It’s a good way to a) make it look like you have no popular support, b) alienate potential supporters by affiliating your movement with random people who need $30 badly, and c) show that you are not taking this politics thing seriously.
If this doesn’t come from the EA side of things, maybe some people should look into where it’s coming from?