Marjorie Taylor Greene criticizes FBI's reported monitoring of AI critics, data center protesters
Marjorie Taylor Greene criticized federal agencies for reportedly monitoring AI critics and data center protestors, treating them as "dangerous extremists." This reaction followed a WIRED report detailing efforts by the FBI, DHS, and regional fusion centers to track "anti-tech violent extremism." The report highlighted growing protests against data centers across the U.S. due to concerns over electricity consumption, water usage, and environmental impact.
U.S. Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene publicly denounced federal agencies, including the FBI and Department of Homeland Security, for reportedly monitoring critics of artificial intelligence and protesters against data center construction. Her strong comments on X (formerly Twitter) followed a WIRED report detailing over 1,000 pages of unpublished documents from these agencies and regional fusion centers, which revealed a broader effort to track what they label as potential "anti-tech violent extremism." The intelligence assessments within these documents warned that growing backlash against AI, job displacement fears, and opposition to data center expansion could incite civil unrest.
Greene sharply criticized the perceived criminalization of public concerns, specifically highlighting complaints about data centers' water and electricity consumption and the potential for AI to replace jobs. The WIRED report also noted a rise in data center protests across the U.S., driven by environmental and resource impact concerns. Civil liberties advocates, like Spencer Reynolds of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, voiced concerns that broad labels like "anti-tech extremism" could blur the line between legitimate protest and violent threats. The FBI stated its focus is on individuals who commit or intend to commit violence or activities threatening national security.
In a separate development, investor Kevin O’Leary claimed his team investigated a coordinated online effort to disrupt energy infrastructure and AI data center development across North America, suggesting bot activity and coordinated messaging from both domestic and foreign sources. One unnamed organization, in response to Benzinga, dismissed claims of foreign interest in a Utah data center, attributing opposition to local Utahns.