Thousands of protesters were expected to gather Sunday in downtown San Francisco to call for a stop to this week’s APEC gathering.
San Francisco, CA
Protesters to March Against APEC Gathering in San Francisco
The No to APEC Coalition—an umbrella group of over 150 grassroots organizations—has criticized the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum for pushing “free trade” to harm indigenous people around the world.
Coalition protesters planned to gather at noon at Harry Bridges Plaza on the Embarcadero, before marching about a mile to Moscone Center in the South of Market neighborhood.
In a statement late last week, representatives from the No to APEC Coalition said protesters would peacefully speak out about their opposition to the gathering, as well as the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework—the Biden administration’s road map for a new Asia-Pacific economic strategy—and climate initiatives they perceive as less than transparent.
“Taking our demands for a clean and vibrant future through the streets directly to the militarized center of negotiations is representative of the power of our popular resistance,” Nik Evasco, an organizer with the NO2APEC Climate Bloc, said in a statement Friday. “We march with our heads held high, across generations, across movements and inclusive of the many voices that are purposefully shut out of free trade summits.”
READ MORE: Activists Vow To Disrupt San Francisco’s APEC Summit With Mass Protests
APEC, launched more than 30 years ago, is a grouping of 21 member economies, including the U.S., China, Japan, South Korea and Australia, aimed at promoting free trade throughout the Asia Pacific region. It hosts multiple meetings in a given host nation throughout the year, culminating in “Leaders Week,” which is taking place in San Francisco this week.
Alongside Leaders Week is the APEC CEO Summit, which will bring heads of state together with business executives like X owner Elon Musk and Salesforce boss Marc Benioff.
Evasco criticized San Francisco for creating “a safe space for the biggest human rights abusers of our era to meet and carve out the world to make profits for themselves and their corporate enablers.”
Protesters with No to APEC’s Palestine Bloc, as well as others attending an “All Out for Palestine” prayer vigil, were expected to gather at the plaza at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m., respectively.
READ MORE: 10 Security, Traffic, Transit Maps to help you navigate APEC in San Francisco
The U.S. Secret Service is the lead agency for security for the APEC events. Restrictions on pedestrian and vehicle traffic will be in place around the Moscone Center, transit lines will be rerouted or closed, and air traffic over San Francisco will be limited.
President Joe Biden will be staying in Nob Hill, and additional security measures will be in place there. Part of the Embarcadero will be closed Wednesday for event that will bring world leaders to the Exploratorium.
More than 1,000 outside law enforcement officers are coming to San Francisco to deal with any potential disruption.
READ MORE: Several Protests a Day Expected in San Francisco During APEC
While activists gear up to get their message heard, San Francisco is doing everything it can to facilitate a successful APEC, including ramping up security, rerouting traffic and broadcasting a marketing campaign to promote the event. Leaders and wealthy sponsors of the summit are also hosting fancy events and celebrations across the city.
San Francisco, CA
Cruise reaches settlement with woman severely injured by robotaxi in San Francisco, report says
SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) — Cruise reached a settlement with a woman who was severely injured by one of the company’s robotaxis, according to a new report.
The exact terms of the agreement have not been revealed.
The woman was hit by a regular vehicle back October.
The impact threw her into the path of a driverless car at 5th and Market Streets in San Francisco.
GM’s Cruise recalling all 950 robotaxis after SF pedestrian dragging incident
She was then pinned under the car as it attempted to pull over.
Cruise said the incident was caused by a software malfunction.
The incident led the DMV to suspend Cruise’s driverless taxi license in San Francisco.
Copyright © 2024 KGO-TV. All Rights Reserved.
San Francisco, CA
Britain expands AI safety institute to San Francisco amid scrutiny over regulatory shortcomings
An aerial view of the city of San Francisco skyline and the Golden Gate Bridge in California, October 28, 2021.
Carlos Barria | Reuters
LONDON — The British government is expanding its facility for testing “frontier” artificial intelligence models to the United States, in a bid to further its image as a top global player tackling the risks of the tech and to increase cooperation with the U.S. as governments around the world jostle for AI leadership.
The government on Monday announced it would open a U.S. counterpart to its AI safety summit, a state-backed body focused on testing advanced AI systems to ensure they’re safe, in San Francisco this summer.
The U.S. iteration of the AI Safety Institute will aim to recruit a team of technical staff headed up by a research director. In London, the institute currently has a team of 30. It is chaired by Ian Hogarth, a prominent British tech entrepreneur who founded the music concert discovery site Songkick.
In a statement, U.K. Technology Minister Michelle Donelan said the AI Safety Summit’s U.S. rollout “represents British leadership in AI in action.”
“It is a pivotal moment in the U.K.’s ability to study both the risks and potential of AI from a global lens, strengthening our partnership with the U.S. and paving the way for other countries to tap into our expertise as we continue to lead the world on AI safety.”
The expansion “will allow the U.K. to tap into the wealth of tech talent available in the Bay Area, engage with the world’s largest AI labs headquartered in both London and San Francisco, and cement relationships with the United States to advance AI safety for the public interest,” the government said.
San Francisco is the home of OpenAI, the Microsoft-backed company behind viral AI chatbot ChatGPT.
The AI Safety Institute was established in November 2023 during the AI Safety Summit, a global event held in England’s Bletchley Park, the home of World War II code breakers, that sought to boost cross-border cooperation on AI safety.
The expansion of the AI Safety Institute to the U.S. comes on the eve of the AI Seoul Summit in South Korea, which was first proposed at the U.K. summit in Bletchley Park last year. The Seoul summit will take place across Tuesday and Wednesday.
The government said that, since the AI Safety Institute was established in November, it’s made progress in evaluating frontier AI models from some of the industry’s leading players.
It said Monday that several AI models completed cybersecurity challenges but struggle to complete more advanced challenges, while several models demonstrated PhD-level knowledge of chemistry and biology.
Meanwhile, all models tested by the institute remained highly vulnerable to “jailbreaks,” where users trick them into producing responses they’re not permitted to under their content guidelines, while some would produce harmful outputs even without attempts to circumvent safeguards.
Tested models were also unable to complete more complex, time-consuming tasks without humans there to oversee them, according to the government.
It didn’t name the AI models that were tested. The government previously got OpenAI, DeepMind, and Anthropic to agree to opening their coveted AI models up to the government to help inform research into the risks associated with their systems.
The development comes as Britain has faced criticism for not introducing formal regulations for AI, while other jurisdictions, like the European Union, race ahead with AI-tailored laws.
The EU’s landmark AI Act, which is the first major legislation for AI of its kind, is expected to become a blueprint for global AI regulations once it is approved by all EU member states and enters into force.
San Francisco, CA
Game Day: Bay Area golfer making most of 2nd chance
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