"Where you'll be governed and policed by AI" - SmartLA 2028 smart cities conspiracy erupts as internet reacts to viral fires claim

SmartLA 2028 refers to the initiative to turn Los Angeles into a “better” city using “technology”, and it is currently trending in the wake of the raging wildfires the city has been experiencing since January 7, 2025.

Netizens have now come up with the conspiracy theory that the ongoing brushfires were man-made and deliberately set to rebuild Los Angeles into a “smart” city within the next few years, as part of the SmartLA 2028 agenda.

X user @yisrael_markell replied to @JonVigliotti’s post showing a video of the completely destroyed Pacific Palisades. The former used a GIF of a duckling smoking and wrote in the caption of their response:

“Just in time to replace it with a smart city, where you’ll be governed and policed by AI.”

Many people joined the conversation and shared similar reactions on the platform.

“How many people are aware of the SmartLA 2028 Initiative? The initiative is to turn Los Angeles into a Smart City by 2028. I’m sure this fire will be the perfect excuse to rebuild Los Angeles into a ‘Smart City,’” a person wrote.

“Would banning ‘Smart Cities’ stop the ‘Climate Change Fires’?” one person asked.

“So, they are looking to turn Los Angeles into a smart city by 2028 Interesting timing with these fires wouldn't you say?” wrote another.

More reactions followed on the platform, as discussions continued.

“Same as Lahaina! Another coincidence!!!” a netizen shared.

“It's almost like it was all planned...” another netizen wrote.

“All by design… beyond criminal in so many aspects… sickening,” an individual wrote.

“Just like Maui Smart City,” wrote another.

It must be noted that no concrete evidence supports the SmartLA 2028 conspiracy theory. Moreover, while the exact cause of the wildfires continues to remain undisclosed, the SmartLA 2028 initiative “doesn’t propose destroying and rebuilding the city but rather adding technology to improve residents’ lives,” as explained by Politifact.

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Exploring the SmartLA 2028 strategy in further detail

The City of Los Angeles’ Information Technology Agency (ITA) formed a Smart City Committee comprising 24 departments and elected officials in 2019. The following year in December, a strategy to turn the city into a “smart” one with the help of new technology was formulated and the proposal came to be known as SmartLA 2028.

Some of its agendas include creating technology that detects fires, violence, or health issues before the residents call 911, zero carbon emissions, introducing “multi-lingual electronic wayfinding” at Los Angeles International Airport terminals, using technology to help people with disabilities, upgrading internet access for underprivileged communities, and renovating metro rail and buses to improve the city-wide connectivity.

“We live in a world full of urban challenges: from racial injustice that impacts our minority populations to natural disasters that threaten safety and property to environmental changes that affect the very water we drink and the air we breathe. To address these challenges, cities seek tools that can positively transform the urban environment,” the ITA website read.

It continued:

“The most promising of these tools is technology. Technology enables the City of Los Angeles to efficiently and ethically improve the quality of life for our residents, businesses, and visitors. In other words, when done right, technology makes us ‘smarter.’ This is why the City of Los Angeles strives to be a ‘smart’ city.

The year 2028 has been set keeping in mind that the city would be hosting Summer Olympics and Paralympics that year. The ITA website also mentioned that LA had been at the top of civic technology applications and even won the U.S. Digital City Award for three consecutive years. It was in sync with all this, that the smart city vision had been developed.

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Since January 7, Los Angeles County has been experiencing rapidly spreading wildfires. Currently, at least six such blazes are active including Palisades Fire, Lidia Fire, Hurst Fire, Eaton Fire, and the most recent Kenneth Fire. The Sunset, Woodley, and Olivas Fires have been contained, as per BBC.

So far, it has displaced over 180,000 residents and killed at least ten, with many missing, as shared by Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna during a January 9 press conference.

Apart from the SmartLA 2028 initiative, conspiracy theorists online also claimed that the United Nations 2030 Agenda which includes developing sustainable cities including “smart cities” using technology, was also behind the cause of the LA fires. However, the claim remains unsubstantiated.

Moreover, contrary to the disinformation circulating online, the 2024 World Economic Forum didn’t include Los Angeles among the world’s top smart and sustainable cities.