As Threats Against AI Executives Surge, Tech Giants Are Beefing Up Security: ‘People Go for the Pitchfork’

It’s getting more dangerous to be an executive in the AI space. Threats targeting AI leaders and data centers jumped 7x between late February and May, according to the Wall Street Journal. Days after an attempted firebombing at OpenAI CEO Sam Altman‘s home, an intruder walked into Anthropic’s lobby to warn an executive was “going to be killed.”

Tech companies are responding by pumping up security. Palantir’s executive protection budget rose 150% to nearly $3 million in 2025. Oracle’s climbed 85% to $5.6 million, largely funding security for Larry Ellison. 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.

The anger stems largely from job-loss anxiety. Palantir CEO Alex Karp said fear of unemployment is fueling the rage: when people are told their job will disappear, he said, “people go for the pitchfork.” Anthropic said it now runs round-the-clock security and tracks concerning behavior to catch escalation patterns early.