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How IRS Code 132 Can Help AI and Data Center Executives Stay Safe
As reported by many news outlets, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman’s San Francisco home was victimized by a firebomb attempt, while the suspect then proceeded to attempt arson at the company’s headquarters. Although the subject was arrested, tech executives are taking note; violence is on the increase. No longer limited to “wrench attacks” against crypto holders, rhetoric against AI from a moral and political standpoint is becoming increasingly hostile.
As reported by The Washington Post: “The Bridging Divides Initiative, a nonpartisan group based at Princeton University that tracks political violence, catalogued what it said are at least six cases in the past year of threats or harassment against local public officials related to AI policies or the construction of AI data centers across the country.”
In fact, in the same month, “an Indianapolis city councilor’s home was shot at 13 times after midnight on Monday morning, in what appears to be a politically motivated attack over his support for a controversial data center project in his district,” according to Gizmodo.
The Altman incident, combined with rising tensions over data centers and AI policy, creates a perfect storm for executive targeting. Unlike celebrity figures, AI and data center executives often don’t recognize themselves as high-profile targets until it’s too late. Many think they are not famous enough to warrant security, which is a dangerous misconception. As any teenager can tell you, it is only slightly harder than a Google search to find out someone’s home address.
Yet there is an opportunity for tech companies and their boards of directors to address executive security in a way that makes financial sense. The Independent Security Study, part of IRS Code Section 132, provides potential tax benefits for the mitigation of security risks. When a 20-year-old can show up at your CEO’s home with kerosene and a lighter, or when shots are fired at officials’ residences over policy disagreements, the risk becomes undeniable. With the benefits provided by the ISS, security expenses need not be absorbed as overhead but can reduce the corporation’s tax burden.
These mitigation strategies need not be 24/7 executive protection, a security measure that few executives need, nor want. Rather, benefits may include scrubbing the executive’s personal information off the internet (limiting the bad guy’s ability to identify where they live in the first instance), online threat monitoring (to identify and address digital threats before they manifest in the physical space), and physical security upgrades to the executive’s home (such as cameras, locks, or alarm systems).
When selecting a security consultant for the Independent Security Study, it is important to do your due diligence. Identify a consultant who has extensive experience in the space, and who has confidence their report will stand up to IRS scrutiny. Ensure that the company has in-house expertise for the various pillars of the ISS: physical, digital, and technical. At Guidepost, our subject matter experts come from the IRS, CIA, FBI, and other federal intelligence and law enforcement agencies.
MSU Institutional Assessment + RAMAGELLAN MonitorshipEmpire/Liberty Review