The US Department of Justice has launched a Super Intelligence Task Force to coordinate criminal and civil enforcement against the misuse of artificial intelligence, announcing the unit on 5 November. The task force, known as DOJ-SITF, will be co-chaired by Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward and Associate Deputy Attorney General Stephen Weiss.

The unit targets foreign state and state-sponsored actors, transnational criminal organisations, and individuals or companies engaged in fraud or other unlawful conduct involving AI. Its stated aim is to protect American taxpayers, critical infrastructure and national security from those who misuse the technology. Attorney General Todd Blanche said the task force would ensure that critical technologies serve the American people and are not manipulated by bad actors at home or abroad.

The new body absorbs the AI Litigation Task Force set up in January under former Attorney General Pam Bondi, folding that unit's work challenging state AI laws into a broader enforcement role. It was created under a memorandum signed by Blanche on 13 October, following an executive order signed on 29 September that directs federal agencies to refer to artificial intelligence as super intelligence. The Justice Department unit will act as the department's main point of contact with the White House Super Intelligence Force, chaired by Director of National Intelligence Jay Clayton.

The launch creates no new offence and names no new statute. Blanche has said he will not investigate or prosecute AI companies where no law has been broken, and the task force's work will rest on existing law, including fraud and computer-misuse statutes. The next date to watch is 28 November, the deadline in the September executive order for proposed legislative language on a federal definition of super intelligence.