Reports obtained by WIRED reveal a growing trend among federal agencies to monitor individuals and groups labeled as 'anti-technology extremists.' This shift in focus coincides with increasing anxieties surrounding AI job displacement, protests targeting data centers, and even alleged attacks on tech executives. ### New Surveillance Targets More than 1,000 pages of unpublished reports from the **Department of Homeland Security**, **FBI**, and fusion centers suggest a national shift towards surveilling this new and broadly defined category. This effort reportedly aligns with **President Donald Trump's** National Security Presidential Memo 7, which instructs the Department of Justice to target individuals holding “anti-American,” “anti-Christian,” and "anti-capitalism” beliefs. **Sebastian Gorka**, Trump's counterterrorism advisor, also released a counterterrorism strategy that names left-wing extremists as a top priority. ### 'Anti-Tech Violent Extremism' A **New York Intelligence and Counterterrorism Bureau** report warns of potential upheaval resulting from AI adoption, introducing the term 'anti-tech violent extremism.' According to the report, the chaotic atmosphere stemming from emergent AI technology may fuel large-scale protests that escalate into civil unrest and violent activity, particularly in urban areas like New York City. This term, 'anti-tech violent extremism,' is not found in publicly available DHS or FBI reports, indicating a novel categorization of a wide range of ideologies under a single extremist umbrella. ### The 'Zizian' Influence The Intelligence Bureau assessment also highlights a new threat emerging from the arrest and trial of **Ziz Laota**, an extreme rationalist who allegedly led a cult-like group. Members of this group have been charged with murder, reportedly driven by an obsessive ideology centered on the existential risks posed by AI. The Bureau warns that 'paranoid views regarding AI' may spread following the Zizians' trial, fueled by their belief in an imminent 'godlike incarnation of AI' and the necessity of ensuring its compliance with human morality. ### Surveillance Tactics The **NYPD**'s intelligence assessment follows its collaboration with the FBI last year to monitor the **Signal** chat group of an activist group coordinating volunteers to monitor public hearings at immigration courts in New York. Documents obtained by The Guardian revealed that the FBI surveilled activists as part of a broader investigation into 'anarchist violent extremist actors,' a threat category identified in the new counterterrorism strategy. ### Data Center Concerns Fusion centers, established after 9/11, are gathering and circulating intelligence about alleged threats to data centers. One fusion center in Western Pennsylvania claimed that adversarial actors, including state-sponsored entities, criminal groups, and extremists, may target US data centers. These actors could exploit the strategic importance of data centers for activities like cryptocurrency mining or use front companies to gain access to US data and infrastructure.