DOJ Deploys the Super Intelligence Squad Before AI Starts Calling the Cops

The U.S. Department of Justice has established a task force to investigate the misuse of advanced artificial intelligence, led by Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward and Associate Deputy Attorney General Stephen Weiss.

Announced Thursday, the Super Intelligence Task Force, or DOJ-SITF, is intended to protect American leadership in “super intelligence” from foreign governments and their proxies, transnational criminal organizations, and companies or individuals using AI to commit fraud and other crimes. The DOJ invoked President Donald Trump’s description of the technology, stating that “America stands at the forefront of a new technological revolution in intelligence.”

Attorney General Todd Blanche said “SI development will continue to be powered by American innovators.” He added that the task force would work with SI Force Chair Jay Clayton to prevent critical AI technologies from being “manipulated by bad actors at home or abroad.” The department also said it would continue “identifying and prosecuting individuals whose use of SI violates the law, including by maliciously targeting American taxpayers, critical U.S. infrastructure, or other aspects of our national security.”

Weiss said the DOJ also has “a responsibility” to “harden regular reporting on SI risk and response, and ensure companies exercise vigorous internal controls so that SI technology behaves as intended,” directing AI developers to strengthen safeguards against models going off the rails.

The task force joins a broader expansion of federal oversight of AI. Former SEC chair Jay Clayton has been involved in the Trump administration’s super intelligence push, and the SEC recently added “super intelligence” to its 2027 examination priorities. Trump has also signed an executive order setting up a fight with states over AI regulation, while the U.S. banking regulator OCC issued its first AI framework earlier this week as banks confronted rogue agents accessing customer accounts.

The DOJ did not provide a timeline or explain how the task force would coordinate with other agencies, saying only that its work would “promote innovation and prevent the misuse” of the technology.