NEED TO KNOW

• Federal agencies are tracking AI critics under a new "anti-tech violent extremism" label.
• The legal scaffolding traces back to a memo Trump signed in September.
• Greene's exit from Congress freed her to call it surveillance of "peasants."

RANDALLSTOWN, MD (TDR) — Federal law enforcement is tracking opposition to artificial intelligence and data center construction under a newly coined threat category, "anti-tech violent extremism," according to 1,000-plus pages of unpublished intelligence documents obtained by Wired and published Tuesday.

The big picture: The surveillance push merges three separate fights into one law enforcement category, applying post-9/11 counterterrorism tools to anti-AI organizing, data center protests over water and electricity, and broader job-displacement anxiety.

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• The phrase "anti-tech violent extremism" appears nowhere in public FBI or DHS documentation.
• The Northern Virginia Regional Intelligence Center flagged photography and "observation" of data centers as suspicious activity.
• A New York Intelligence and Counterterrorism Bureau report warned AI adoption could fuel "large-scale protests that devolve into civil unrest."

Why it matters: Civil liberties experts say the label collapses legitimate violent threats and constitutionally protected protest into one bucket, and the documents themselves list activities a peaceful protester could check off.

• Communities near data centers are organizing over rates and water use.
• "Anti-tech extremism" can be applied to a town hall attendee or a violent actor without distinction.
• The federal monitoring follows local backlash, not the other way around.

Driving the news: Former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), who resigned from Congress Jan. 5 after breaking with President Trump, attacked the surveillance push from the populist right.

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• Greene posted on X that critics were being treated like "peasants" for opposing facilities "stealing their water and driving the cost of electricity."
• Her exit came after Trump withdrew his endorsement over the Epstein files dispute.
• A former MAGA loyalist outside the tent is free to call the surveillance what it is.

What they're saying:

• Marjorie Taylor Greene, former Rep. (R-Ga.) — "How dare the peasants complain about data centers stealing their water and driving the cost of electricity!!"
• Spencer Reynolds, Brennan Center senior counsel — broad labels like "anti-tech extremism" risk blurring lawful protest and violent threats.
• FBI statement to Wired — the bureau investigates only individuals who commit or intend to commit federal crimes.

Yes, but: The intelligence record includes real violence. The New York bureau cites Ziz LaSota, alleged leader of a group with extreme anti-AI views linked to multiple murders. Dismissing the threat means accounting for that case.

• LaSota's group represents the violent end of the spectrum the documents cite.
• Data center infrastructure is a plausible attack target by traditional security analysis.
• The question is whether the same surveillance net covers a county commissioner town hall.

Between the lines: The "anti-tech extremism" label sits on top of National Security Presidential Memorandum 7, signed by Trump on Sept. 25. NSPM-7 instructs the Justice Department to disrupt networks holding "anti-American," "anti-Christian," and "anti-capitalism" beliefs, language broad enough that Joint Terrorism Task Forces can fit nearly any organized opposition inside it.

• The memo treats ideology as a terrorism indicator, not just conduct.
• Counterterrorism czar Sebastian Gorka named left-wing extremists a top-three threat in May.
• AI critics now sit inside a framework built to target political dissent.

What's next:

• DOJ Joint Terrorism Task Forces continue operating under NSPM-7's mandate with no public reporting requirement.
• Data center protests are expected to grow as electricity demand from AI infrastructure strains regional grids.
• Civil liberties groups are weighing legal challenges; no suit has been filed against the "anti-tech extremism" label itself.

Where does the line sit between protecting infrastructure and policing dissent — and who decides?

Sources

This report was compiled using reporting from Wired, Gizmodo, Android Authority, Computing, Benzinga, CBS News, ABC News, The Intercept, Salon, and the Brennan Center

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