In brief
- The DOJ launched a Super Intelligence Task Force, led by Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward and Associate Deputy Attorney General Stephen Weiss, to police the misuse of advanced AI by foreign actors, criminal organizations and fraudsters.
- Beyond prosecution, the task force wants AI companies to strengthen internal controls and risk reporting so models “behave as intended.”
- It joins a widening federal AI push, from the SEC’s 2027 “super intelligence” exam priorities to a new banking-regulator AI framework.
The U.S. Department of Justice is setting up a task force dedicated to policing the misuse of advanced artificial intelligence, as Washington races to build enforcement muscle around a technology it increasingly frames in near-sci-fi terms.
Announced Thursday, the Super Intelligence Task Force, or DOJ-SITF, will be led by Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward and Associate Deputy Attorney General Stephen Weiss.
Its stated mission is to make sure American leadership in “super intelligence” isn’t compromised by bad actors, whether foreign governments and their proxies, transnational criminal organizations, or companies and individuals using AI to commit fraud or other crimes.
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The department invoked President Donald Trump’s framing that “America stands at the forefront of a new technological revolution in intelligence.”
“SI development will continue to be powered by American innovators,” Attorney General Todd Blanche said in a statement, adding that the task force would work alongside SI Force Chair Jay Clayton to keep critical AI technologies from being “manipulated by bad actors at home or abroad.”
Blanche said the DOJ would keep “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.”
→Notably, the effort isn’t purely about catching criminals. Weiss said the department 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,” signaling that the DOJ wants AI developers themselves to tighten safeguards against models going off the rails.
The term “super intelligence” typically refers to a hypothetical AI that surpasses human capability across the board, and the government’s embrace of the phrase marks an escalation in how officials talk about the technology. Former SEC chair Jay Clayton has been tied to a broader Trump administration push around super intelligence, and the SEC recently added “super intelligence” to its 2027 examination priorities.
The task force joins a widening federal scramble to get ahead of AI risk. Trump signed an executive order setting up a fight with states over AI regulation. Earlier this week, the U.S. banking regulator OCC issued its first AI framework as banks battle rogue agents reaching into customer accounts.
The DOJ did not specify a timeline or detail how the task force would coordinate with other agencies, saying only that its work would “promote innovation and prevent the misuse” of the technology.
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