US Law Enforcement Warns of AI-Enabled Terrorism and Threats to Data Centers
Law enforcement agencies across the United States are monitoring how extremists may use artificial intelligence to plan attacks and target data centers. The documents also show agencies tracking anti-data-center opposition, including public resistance in Reno over water use, utility costs, pollution and climate impacts.
A review of more than 80 law enforcement and intelligence documents found that federal, state and local agencies have been assessing artificial intelligence as both a tool for extremist attacks and a potential target. The FBI, Department of Homeland Security, National Counterterrorism Center and local agencies warned that generative AI could help bad actors obtain bomb-making instructions, spread propaganda, recruit followers and evade detection.
The documents also describe threats against data centers and other technology infrastructure, including a plot to attack an Amazon Web Services facility and online threats of arson and bombing. Agencies monitored anti-data-center activity nationwide, including a Reno City Council hearing on a proposed moratorium where residents cited water consumption, rising utility costs, pollution and climate effects. Civil-liberties advocates, including Property of the People executive director Ryan Shapiro, warned that surveillance of extremist threats could sweep in peaceful opposition to AI and data-center development.