FBI and DHS Shift Focus to 'Anti-Tech Extremism'

Anti-tech extremism is the newest category in America's domestic surveillance apparatus, a label federal intelligence agencies and local law enforcement are now using to track a sprawling and often nonviolent range of people. It's a worryingly broad designation. But more than 1,000 pages of unpublished reports from the Department of Homeland Security, the FBI, and fusion centers obtained by WIRED reveal a national campaign to monitor dissenters, protesters, and critics of artificial intelligence and data center expansion under a single, worryingly broad threat designation.

Intelligence community retools its focus. Documents show this shift. President Donald Trump's National Security Presidential Memo 7 instructed the Department of Justice to target anyone holding beliefs the administration deems "anti-American," "anti-Christian," or "anti-capitalism." And earlier this year, counterterrorism czar Sebastian Gorka released a public strategy listing left-wing extremists among the top three counterterrorism priorities. But that push against anti-tech extremism fits neatly into that framework, adding an unreported category to a presidency that's staked enormous political and financial capital on AI and data center proliferation.

A New Label, An Old Playbook

The term is novel. A New York Intelligence and Counterterrorism Bureau report obtained by WIRED warns of upheaval tied to AI adoption and introduces a phrase that appears nowhere in any publicly available DHS or FBI extremism guide. It's called "anti-tech violent extremism." The report reads: "The chaotic atmosphere that may result from emergent AI technology in the next five years may fuel large-scale protests that devolve into civil unrest and anti-tech violent extremist activity, especially in large urban areas such as New York City." But that term lumps together a wide range of ideologies under a single extremist banner and signals a shift in how domestic law enforcement classifies threats.

But that's missing something. Fears about the cataclysmic potential of AI are not fringe but common among AI alignment experts, machine learning engineers, and even employees at frontier AI companies, and the NYPD report itself acknowledges this reality even as it moves to treat those fears as precursors to violence.

The Zizian Factor

Paranoid views may spread. And report warns paranoid views regarding AI may spread after Zizians' trial citing belief that 'a godlike incarnation of AI is imminent' and that humans must devote themselves to ensuring its compliance with human morality. The intelligence assessment flags the case of Ziz Laota, extreme rationalist who allegedly led a cultlike group, and three members've been charged with murder tied to obsessive ideology centered on existential risk from AI.

They're dotting the country. 80 fusion centers, created after 9/11 to bridge federal intelligence and local police, now have analysts gathering reports on alleged threats to data centers. And a Western Pennsylvania fusion center claimed that "adversarial actors, including state-sponsored entities, criminal groups, and extremists" may target US data centers or exploit them for cryptocurrency mining and data access through front companies.

What Counts as Suspicious

A Northern Virginia Regional Intelligence Center report warned that anti-government, anti-authority violent extremists, or AGAAVEs, influenced by government grievances and conspiracy theories, have engaged in pre-operational planning against data centers. That's the official warning. But the breakdown of Suspicious Activity Reporting indicators tells a different story, and legal experts say that the listed activities could easily describe peaceful protesters.

The flagged behaviors include:

• Expressed or implied threat
• Observation and surveillance
• Photography
• Testing or probing of security
• Attempted intrusion

Spencer Reynolds, senior counsel at the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, told WIRED the pattern is familiar. "These intelligence reports are part of a long tradition of agencies identifying protest or even simply having strong opinions as precursors to violence," he said. But they're incredibly unreliable. Suspicious activity reports, often about vague or innocent behavior, issued under permissive standards and received in large volumes, allow officers to inject their own biases and see what they want to see in the facts.

The Private Intel Pipeline

Private contractors are feeding the system too. SITE Intelligence circulated bulletins to fusion centers in January 2025 alleging that conversations in a "neo-Luddite" Discord server had turned violent, with one user calling for violence against tech CEOs and power plants. Rita Katz, founder of SITE, defended the practice. "By narrowing our OSINT focus exclusively to communities with a proven link to real-world harm, even trolling remarks have an informative value," she told WIRED. She noted "a notable spike in online threats advocating for sabotage against data centers, which is a true cause for concern."

Reynolds pushed back. According to Reynolds, SITE is a for-profit private intelligence firm that monitors social media for its law enforcement customers and promises to do an incredibly difficult if not impossible job. But it's not doing that; instead, it tends to focus on people's views about policing, abortion, economic inequality, vaccines, or any other hot-button topic of the day.

Protesters Caught in the Net

They're tracking in-person assemblies. The Northern Virginia center generated reports on demonstrations at local civic events, including an Arlington County budget meeting and a Fairfax County School Board meeting. And across the country, town halls and budget committee meetings have become the main forums for residents to oppose data centers being built in their neighborhoods.

The scale of opposition is significant. According to Data Center Watch, a project by AI security firm 10a Labs, hundreds of organizations across 42 states have mobilized to block data center construction. The backlash has been contentious. In California, Illinois, Indiana, New Jersey, Oklahoma, and Wisconsin, police have removed or arrested speakers at town halls who criticized data centers.

The Takedown List

The Northern Virginia intelligence center circulated a report in March documenting monitoring of constitutionally protected events. These included:

• Multiple "Tesla Takedown" protests against Elon Musk's role in government restructuring
• A "Break Up With Tech Rager" sponsored by Eject Elbit, which organizes against investment in Israeli weapons manufacturer Elbit

Mauro Lubrano, who's the author of Stop the Machines: The Rise of Anti-Technology, has emerged as a leading expert on anti-tech extremism, and his book identifies three strains: insurrectionary anarchists, eco-extremists, and ecofascists. These include followers of Ted Kaczynski, German anarchists, Mexican eco-extremists, and far-right figures in the Terrorgram Collective, and Lubrano confirmed his lecture's circulating among fusion centers. But he urged restraint. "While anti-technology violence is unacceptable, it should not be used as an excuse to securitize AI and emerging technologies, thereby silencing those who are critical of the current trajectory," he told WIRED.

The Broadest Possible Brush

Reynolds warned that a category like anti-tech extremism could ensnare peaceful data center protesters, AI skeptics, and anyone with grievances about the technology that permeates modern life. It's not just data centers. And as people continue to organize for a better future, more surveillance and criminalization of this opposition are likely, just as with Black Lives Matter, Occupy Wall Street, and environmental movements in recent decades, he said.

Here's what it skipped. A January 2025 DHS Office of Intelligence and Analysis report attempted to connect Luigi Mangione, the alleged assassin of UnitedHealth CEO Brian Thompson, with Kaczynski and his anti-technology beliefs, but it offered no further evidence. And it concluded with a warning that executives face heightened risk when they're "perceived as taking advantage of individuals of lesser means.

The clearest example of how nonviolent critique gets swept into the threat matrix arrived in April 2025. SITE Intelligence circulated an open source report flagging a video from the progressive nonprofit More Perfect Union about the destructive effects of a data center on nearby residents in Georgia. Nothing in the video advocated for violence against property or people. Yet thanks to fusion center targeting, the advocacy group is now circulating among US intelligence and law enforcement across the country as a potential threat vector. The FBI told WIRED it "investigates individuals who commit or intend to commit violence and criminal activity that constitutes a federal crime or poses a threat to national security" and declined further comment. DHS did not respond.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is anti-tech extremism?

Anti-tech extremism refers to targeted violence or sabotage against technology companies, their employees, or infrastructure, motivated by grievances over technology's societal impact.

Why are the FBI and DHS shifting focus to anti-tech extremism?

The shift is driven by a rise in attacks and threats against tech firms, such as vandalism and harassment, which are now treated as domestic terrorism threats.

What types of incidents are considered anti-tech extremism?

Incidents include arson at data centers, doxing of tech executives, and coordinated disruptions of company operations by activist groups.

How does this compare to other domestic terrorism threats?

It is similar to eco-terrorism or animal rights extremism, but specifically targets the tech industry as a symbol of perceived societal harms.

What legal tools are used to combat anti-tech extremism?

Authorities use existing federal laws against terrorism, computer fraud, and interstate threats, along with enhanced monitoring of online extremist forums.