Private Intelligence Firms Package Dossiers on AI and Data Center Critics

Private intelligence firms are marketing reports that profile critics of artificial intelligence and data-center projects, framing dissent as a security threat. RANE Network offered a tailored assessment to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in March 2025 and hosted a May 2025 webinar on an “anti-tech backlash.” Liferaft, a subsidiary of Securitas, released a July 31 report summarizing months of online monitoring of “anger at AI executives” and “opposition to new data centers.” Kroll advertises “risk intelligence” on public controversy to data-center operators.

The American Prospect

Opposition to AI data centers has broadened across the political spectrum, driven by environmental concerns, fears of job loss, utility-price spikes, and resentment toward Big Tech’s influence on local development. Hundreds of grassroots organizations have formed to curb data-center construction. In 2020, RANE acquired Stratfor, a geopolitical intelligence firm whose 2011 breach by the hacker collective Anonymous revealed prior monitoring of corporate critics such as Dow Chemical and Coca-Cola.

The American Prospect

• RANE Network – corporate intelligence firm selling threat assessments to regulators.

The American Prospect

• Kroll – world’s largest investigation and corporate-intelligence firm providing “risk intelligence” to data-center operators.

The American Prospect

• Liferaft – Securitas subsidiary publishing surveillance reports on AI-related hostility.

The American Prospect

• Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) – potential client for RANE’s dossier.

The American Prospect

• FBI and Department of Homeland Security – have introduced a domestic “anti-tech extremism” category.

The American Prospect

• Anonymous – hacker collective that breached Stratfor in 2011, highlighting a history of hacktivist scrutiny.

The American Prospect

• 2011 – Stratfor breached by Anonymous, exposing internal monitoring of corporate critics.

The American Prospect

• 2020 – RANE acquires Stratfor.

The American Prospect

• March 2025 – RANE emails FERC offering a tailored report on anti-technology sentiment.

The American Prospect

• May 2025 – RANE hosts a webinar on the “coming anti-tech backlash.”

The American Prospect

• July 31 2025 – Liferaft publishes a report on online hostility toward AI executives and data-center projects.

The American Prospect

• May 2026 – Wired reports that FBI and DHS are using the “anti-tech extremism” label to target speech, regardless of criminal intent.

The American Prospect

• Prospect notes “hundreds of grassroots organizations” nationwide opposing data-center construction.

Fortune Magazine

• RANE’s marketing material lists threat categories such as misinformation, supply-chain risk, and regulatory scrutiny.

The American Prospect

• FBI and DHS memos, as reported by Wired, define “anti-tech extremism” as a domestic extremist category, extending surveillance to constitutionally protected speech.

The American Prospect

• Kroll’s June website post advertises “risk intelligence” services covering public controversy, labor tensions, and reputational events for data-center operators.

The American Prospect

• RANE declined to comment on the Prospect-obtained materials, leaving its current client list and the extent of any contracts with federal agencies unverified.

The American Prospect

• While Wired reports that FBI and DHS are applying the “anti-tech extremism” label, the precise criteria for triggering surveillance remain undisclosed, creating uncertainty about the scope of monitoring.

The American Prospect

• Federal agencies are circulating internal memoranda that expand the “anti-tech extremism” category, suggesting further integration of AI-related protest monitoring into law-enforcement workflows.

The American Prospect

• Liferaft indicates that the shift from “personal frustration to coordinated rhetoric” will be a focus for future threat-intelligence assessments, implying ongoing surveillance of activist networks.

The American Prospect