AI Executives Hire Armed Guards as Threats Surge and Body Bags Appear Outside OpenAI Headquarters

Threats Against AI Executives Surge as Public Anger Escalates

AI executives are operating under heightened security as threats against AI leaders have intensified dramatically. According to the Wall Street Journal, threats targeting AI executives and data centers jumped sevenfold between late February and May 3

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. The AI backlash has moved beyond online criticism to real-world incidents that have shaken Silicon Valley's leadership.

The most visible manifestation of this anti-AI movement came Thursday when body bags appeared outside OpenAI headquarters. Placed by activist groups Tesla Takedown and Stop the Money Pipeline, the symbolic display protested the company's involvement with the Department of Defense 1

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. The body bags were accompanied by a banner listing names of children killed when a US bomb hit an Iranian school. Similar protests against AI companies are planned for Anthropic, Amazon, Google, Microsoft, and Tesla offices 4

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Violence Against AI Leaders Becomes Reality

The security concerns intensified after OpenAI CEO Sam Altman's home was firebombed and shot at earlier this year by a 20-year-old anti-AI activist named Daniel Moreno-Gama, who came armed with a gun and a Molotov cocktail 2

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. While no one was injured, the high-profile incident marked a turning point for the industry. Around the same time, Anthropic faced its own close call when a man snuck into its headquarters behind an employee, carrying an envelope with an executive's name on it, and told a guard that the executive was "going to be killed" 2

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These incidents have prompted AI executives to travel with armed bodyguards and maintain a lower public profile. "Tech CEOs, a few years ago, definitely did not have security," Dakota Dominguez, an executive at Silicon Valley-based security firm JPT Security, told the WSJ. "A lot of tech companies now are incorporating that into their budgets" 2

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Increased Security for Tech Executives Becomes Industry Standard

The financial commitment to executive protection has grown substantially. Palantir's executive protection budget rose 150% to nearly $3 million in 2025, while Oracle's climbed 85% to $5.6 million, largely funding security for Larry Ellison 3

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. Across the S&P 500, the share of tech companies disclosing executive protection spending grew from 26.8% in 2021 to 38.1% last year 3

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. Anthropic now runs round-the-clock security and tracks concerning behavior to catch escalation patterns early 3

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Military and Surveillance Ties Drive Protests Against AI Companies

The OpenAI headquarters protest highlights growing concerns about the tech industry's relationship with the Pentagon and participation in military and surveillance campaigns 1

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. Anthropic's model was reportedly used to identify targets as America launched its initial strikes on Iran 1

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. Activists have also shut down data centers, taken down AI-powered surveillance cameras, and organized demonstrations outside company offices 2

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Public Distrust of AI Reaches Critical Levels

Public distrust of AI has reached alarming levels for the industry. An NBC News survey found just 26% of people had a positive view of AI, making it less popular than Immigration and Customs Enforcement 1

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. Poll after poll shows that people believe the potential harms of artificial intelligence outweigh the benefits 1

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Job displacement anxiety is fueling much of the anger. Palantir CEO Alex Karp explained that when people are told their job will disappear, "people go for the pitchfork" 3

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. Bonnie Kate Wolf, a former Pinterest employee laid off during an AI-focused restructuring, told the WSJ: "You can't go back to serfdom. It really feels like the people in power want to be kings. Historically, that doesn't work out for kings" 2

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. People fear that AI will result in mass layoffs, further consolidation of wealth and power, or even catastrophic outcomes—concerns that many AI industry leaders themselves have warned about 2

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