Washington DC - A recent investigation alleged that artificial intelligence (AI) giant Anthropic is building a massive monitoring system to keep an eye on anti-AI activists.

The report comes from Prospect, which reviewed numerous job postings and conducted interviews with multiple senior security officials at Anthropic, unveiling a monitoring system used to surveil people involved in anti-AI activism.

In particular, Anthropic is reportedly monitoring activists in the vicinity of key executives, and is keeping an eye on any protests located close to company assets. Most scary, however, is its so-called "pre-crime" effort, which sees it attempt to predict future incidents.

Prospect alleges that the company has at times reported suspects to the police before a crime has even occurred. Such claims are backed up by Anthropic itself, however, which confirmed such behavior to the Wall Street Journal in July.

Cars Ford responds to US transportation secretary's "wrongheaded" letter over China deals

"We track concerning behavior over time through a person-of-interest process, allowing us to catch escalation patterns early," a spokesperson admitted. "Several individuals involved in incidents reported to police were already being tracked by Anthropic."

This behavior could be perceived as flying in the face of Anthropic's attempts to market itself as an ethical alternative to other AI companies, such as OpenAI and xAI.

Earlier this year, for example, it garnered positive attention by refusing to allow the Department of Defense to use its software for domestic surveillance and autonomous weapons.

One job listing reviewed by Prospect saw Anthropic search for a specialist who will "investigate specific threats, actors, and events, produce finished assessments, and help keep Anthropic's employees ahead of a rapidly evolving threat landscape and in a defensible position."

Remunerated set at between $180,000 and $230,000 a year, the employee will "identify, assess, track, and investigate global threats including geopolitical instability, terrorism, crime, activism, nation-state targeting of the AI sector, and emerging security trends."