DHS Labels AI Critics "Anti-Tech Extremists"

The Feds Found a New Kind of Terrorist

A government analyst in Philadelphia flagged a Facebook meme joking about sabotaging AI data centers as a potential domestic terrorism concern. According to Wired, internal government records show federal analysts have begun tracking what they describe as "anti-technology violent extremism."

The paper trail begins with NSPM-7. President Donald Trump signed the memorandum in September, weeks after Charlie Kirk's assassination, under the title Countering Domestic Terrorism and Organized Political Violence. The directive instructs federal agencies to investigate several ideological indicators, including anti-American, anti-Christian, and anti-capitalist sentiment. Neither the Department of Homeland Security nor the Department of Justice has published a legal definition of "anti-American." Without a clear definition, the phrase leaves room for interpretation. The ACLU also points to something missing. Although NSPM-7 focuses on political violence, the memorandum never mentions the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, one of the most significant acts of political violence in recent American history.

Wired obtained more than 1,000 unpublished reports from DHS, the FBI, and regional fusion centers. Those files describe growing federal attention toward opponents of artificial intelligence and the massive data centers powering the technology. One December intelligence bulletin from the Delaware Valley Intelligence Center warned violent extremists were "likely interested" in targeting AI facilities across the Philadelphia region. The same bulletin acknowledged investigators possessed no specific intelligence indicating an attack was being planned. Supporting material included the Facebook meme along with a blog post titled Butlerian Jihad Against AI. A separate report from the Northern Virginia Regional Intelligence Center raised similar concerns surrounding another major data center corridor. Even inside those documents, suspicion consistently outpaced documented evidence.

Resistance to large data centers has spread across more than 40 states as communities grapple with electricity demand, water consumption, land use, and fears surrounding AI-driven job losses. Federal reporting cites attacks targeting technology executives as part of the broader security picture, although those documents identify no specific incident. According to Wired, the phrase "anti-technology violent extremism" appears nowhere within previously published DHS or FBI extremism frameworks. Its arrival coincides with rising public opposition surrounding artificial intelligence, broad enough to encompass online speech alongside organized demonstrations.

Spencer Reynolds of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund told Wired those reports fit a recurring bureaucratic pattern in which agencies confuse protected opinion with predictive intelligence. Reynolds explained suspicious activity reports require relatively little supporting evidence, creating room for individual analysts to inject personal assumptions into official records. Domestic terrorism also occupies an unusual legal position. Federal law provides no standalone domestic terrorism offense. Instead, the designation influences investigative authority and sentencing decisions long before criminal charges ever reach trial.

The enforcement apparatus described inside NSPM-7 has already begun taking shape. The directive instructs the FBI to establish cash rewards for information leading to arrests involving designated domestic terrorist organizations, creating financial incentives for reporting fellow Americans connected to those groups. The FBI and IRS Criminal Investigation have also established what agency officials describe as a mission control command center, placing rotating IRS-CI personnel alongside FBI investigators tracking nonprofit funding connected to domestic terrorism investigations. Sebastian Gorka, one architect behind the strategy, outlined the administration's objective publicly, saying officials intend to "map them at home, identify their membership, and map their ties to international organizations" before disrupting those networks through law enforcement.

Another claim circulated widely across social media, asserting Gorka personally labeled Tucker Carlson and Nick Fuentes domestic terrorists. Fact checks published by Snopes and Newsweek found no evidence supporting the allegation. Gorka's recorded remarks, delivered during discussion surrounding an investigation involving the Southern Poverty Law Center, questioned only whether Carlson and Fuentes still belonged within the conservative movement. He also argued federal officials saw no comparable pattern of political violence emerging from the political right. Those comments provide a documented record without relying upon inaccurate quotations circulating online.

By July, the administration had taken the issue to an international summit in Washington with officials from more than 60 countries. Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned about transnational antifa networks and accused Iran and Cuba of providing financial support, though no public evidence accompanied those claims. ABC News also noted that the domestic crimes cited during the summit, including Charlie Kirk's assassination and the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, have no publicly established links to foreign actors.

Governments have always tracked genuine threats. Few Americans object to stopping violence before lives are lost. The challenge begins when the line separating criminal intent from protected expression starts to blur. Technology will continue changing, and public opinion will change alongside it. Labels created for one political moment often survive long after the headlines fade, carrying authority into entirely different debates.

@Santitos

@salinasmariasantos

Copyright © 2026 Maria Santos Salinas for FRONTeras.

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