AI Backlash Turns Violent: Tech Execs Hire Armed Guards

Tech executives are hiring armed security and traveling incognito amid violent backlash against AI, The Wall Street Journal reports. A 20-year-old man, Daniel Moreno-Gama, is on trial for throwing a Molotov cocktail at OpenAI CEO Sam Altman's San Francisco home and threatening to burn down OpenAI's headquarters. Separately, an intruder entered Anthropic's headquarters with an envelope bearing an executive's name and told a guard the executive would be killed. Dakota Dominguez of JPT Security notes that tech companies now budget for security, unlike a few years ago. According to The Economist, more Americans would prefer living next to a nuclear reactor than an AI data center. Local residents across the U.S. oppose data center plans due to water consumption. Jeff Samoray of Michigan says big tech is steamrolling citizens. Bonnie Kate Wolf, a former Pinterest employee laid off because of AI, links the violence to fears of wealth concentration and serfdom. Meta Ray-Ban smart glasses also face backlash, with owners afraid to wear them in public.