The Justice Department has launched a Super Intelligence Task Force to shield American artificial intelligence development from foreign governments, criminal networks and fraudsters, carrying out an order President Donald Trump signed in an October 13 memo.
The department announced the unit on Thursday. Stanley Woodward, the associate attorney general, and Stephen Weiss, an associate deputy attorney general, are leading it, and both report to Attorney General Todd Blanche. Blanche said the group would work alongside Jay Clayton, who chairs the administration's broader SI Force.
The department named its targets as foreign states and groups backed by them, transnational criminal organizations, and individuals or companies engaged in fraud.
Under Trump's memo, the task force will organize the department's criminal and civil cases involving AI, recommend enforcement priorities tied to public safety and misuse, and write guidance for prosecuting unlawful AI conduct.
It will also help shape legislative proposals meant to head off what the memo calls burdensome regulation, and it will sort out overlapping investigations among departments and U.S. attorneys' offices. The memo authorizes the unit to take affirmative measures as appropriate to keep the country ahead, without spelling out what those steps would be.
Weiss said the department would use its law enforcement tools to deter improper use of the technology, strengthen routine reporting on its risks and push companies to keep strong internal controls. Senior officials pointed to AI attacks aimed at individuals and at critical infrastructure as leading concerns.
The Department also has a responsibility to utilize law enforcement tools at our disposal to deter improper use of SI
Stephen Weiss, associate deputy attorney general
Emil Michael, the Pentagon's chief technology officer and the task force's vice chair, said this week that the team would release details on its approach to AI regulation later this month.
A new name for AI
The unit's name follows Trump's move in September to have the government use the term super intelligence in place of artificial intelligence. A federal website devoted to the effort says the country is in a race for super intelligence and cites legal guidance to speed federal approvals, which it credits with more data centers being built.
