Trial of Wynd Kaufmyn

Next Court Appearance: 8/14/26, 8:30am, 850 Bryant St, San Francisco

Wynd will be surrendering herself to complete her sentence.

Click on the image above to see song lyrics.

In a historic, first-of-its-kind trial, a member of the group StopAI is facing charges for blockading the doors of OpenAI, a leading company in the global race to develop “Artificial General Intelligence” (AGI) and “Artificial Superintelligence” (ASI), AI that would match or exceed human capabilities across the board and which experts believe could lead to human extinction within a matter of years.

AI companies including OpenAI, xAI, Google Deepmind, Anthropic, and Meta are racing to build such AI systems despite the risks, and ASI is the stated goal of OpenAI.

OpenAI’s AI, ChatGPT, has already been implicated in user suicides and mass shootings, demonstrating its potential for lethal harm. Mass layoffs, AI psychosis, war crimes, dystopian levels of surveillance, and loss of human control are growing threats from AI likely to culminate in catastrophic harms.

The trial is at San Francisco Superior Courthouse, 400 McAllister St, Department 503. The case number is CRI-25404422. Ms. Kaufmyn is facing four misdemeanor charges:

P.C. 602.1(A)
P.C. 602(12)
P.C. 407
P.C. 409

Ms. Kaufmyn argues her actions were necessary to prevent imminent harm from OpenAI’s pursuit of Artificial Superintelligence. Notable UC Berkeley AI professor Stuart Russell is expected to provide expert testimony at the trial. The necessity defense was used in 2018 when a Boston Municipal Judge acquitted 13 climate activists who blocked a fracked gas pipeline. The judge found the activists not guilty on the basis of necessity.

“As a scientist, I know that we can never have experimental evidence before building ASI that shows it will stay safe forever. Hence we must enact a permanent global ban of all research and development projects to build it.” – Wynd Kaufmyn, defendant
“The threat of human extinction from AI is real and urgent. OpenAI is openly racing towards a point of no return, and must be stopped immediately.” – AI Professor David Krueger

This trial will be the first time in human history where a jury of peers are asked to weigh in regarding the catastrophic threats that AI poses to humanity.

If you’re local, please consider showing up to court proceedings in a red shirt. Daily trial updates and specific calls to action will continuously be posted at stopai.info.

TIMELY UPDATES: 06/06/26

Monday, June 1

Wynd Kaufmyn and her lawyer submitted a motion to use the Necessity Defense. The judge ruled that he will allow Kaufmyn to present this defense, however; only after testimony and evidence are submitted will the judge decide whether or not to instruct the jury to consider the defense when determining guilt .

Tuesday, June 2

Jury selection began and completed

Wednesday, June 3

Opening statements from the prosecution and the defense.

The Prosecution presented and rested its case with 3 witnesses and 7 pieces of evidence. (3 videos, 3 pictures, flyer for the action on 2/22/25)

Thursday, June 4

No formal court. Judge and lawyers met to begin negotiating jury instructions.

Friday, June 5

Kaufmyn gave a clear and compelling testimony, focusing on Sam Altman's own statements and the warnings of field experts including Stuart Russell on the catastrophic threat of advanced artificial intelligence. Wynd specifically discussed a statement Altman made when referring to his company’s own activities in 2023; “the bad case—and I think this is important to say—is, like, lights out for all of us.” Kaufmyn was not granted the necessity defense, but rather the "Mistake of Law" instruction.

According to those present in the courtroom, Sam Altman’s lawyer argued that Altman’s quote should be irrelevant to Kaufmyn’s state of mind – to which the judge expressed clear disapproval, and asked the lawyer to take a moment to reflect on the content of the statement in question. While the judge ultimately ruled to quash the subpoena, he will allow the video of the "lights out" statement to be presented to the jury on Monday.

The judge ruled that the defense may bring in renowned Computer Scientist and UC Berkeley Professor Stuart Russell for expert testimony. Russell has confirmed he will be at the court starting 9 AM Monday morning.

Expected schedule for next week

Monday, June 8

Wynd will take the stand again to testify as to the importance the video of Sam Altman speaking on the existential threat posed by AI played into her decision to block the doors of Open AI. The video will be played and entered as evidence.
Stuart Russel will testify.
Closing Arguments.
Jury Instructions.

(Some of this may spill over into Tuesday)