Hundreds protest outside Chapel Hill's G20 Innovation Ministerial, criticizing artificial intelligence

While global technology leaders convened inside the Carolina Inn for the G20 Innovation Ministerial, hundreds of community members took to the street Wednesday morning to protest their presence at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Wednesday marks the second and final day of the artificial-intelligence focused conference. U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman were just some of the high-profile figures meeting on campus, while other industry titans like Tesla CEO Elon Musk attended virtually.

Isabelle Lynn, a junior at UNC-Chapel Hill and the press correspondent for the university's chapter of the climate-focused Sunrise Movement, said demonstrators hoped to remind tech billionaires and university leaders that the community is paying attention and has concerns with the future of artificial intelligence. Along with Sunrise UNC, the protest was supported by organizations including UNC Students for Justice in Palestine, UNC NAACP, the Campus Y, and the Party for Socialism and Liberation.

Critics of AI data centers say the facilities produce a constant humming noise. Lynn said that, to flip the script, demonstrators were ready to buzz in the millionaire's ears.