FBI Using AI to Zero In on Threats Faster, Deputy Director Says
The FBI is increasingly relying on FBI AI threat detection tools to identify potential dangers and combat crime, specifically targeting transnational criminal organizations and drug cartels, according to Deputy Director Christopher Raia. The announcement comes three weeks after the bureau released data showing a significant national drop in violent crime rates.
Raia, a 23-year FBI veteran appointed deputy director in January, told CBS News that AI has helped identify credible threats while dramatically reducing the time between an initial tip and actual field action, cutting response times from weeks down to hours, or in some cases, minutes. “We’ve sprinkled in AI and now these tips rise to the top and we can get them out to the field to action,” Raia said.
A Sharp Drop in Violent Crime Nationwide
Violent crime rates across the United States have declined sharply in recent years, with the nation’s murder rate reaching a 20-year low in 2025, alongside the largest one-year drop in overall violent crime on record, according to the FBI’s annual crime report released in August. The data showed aggravated assaults falling by 7.2%, rapes declining by 7.6%, and robbery dropping by 18.5% year over year.
Raia attributed this broader decline to a combination of factors, praising state and local law enforcement efforts, tighter border security, and what he described as a renewed institutional focus specifically on violent crime.
How FBI AI Threat Detection Actually Works
According to Raia, AI has allowed the bureau to move with significantly greater speed without becoming overwhelmed by data volumes far exceeding what human analysts could realistically process manually. “The FBI and other agencies were sitting on a bunch of risk,” Raia explained, referring to the hundreds or thousands of tips flowing in from around the world on any given day. “We didn’t have the manpower to analyze it,” he said.
The bureau’s National Threat Operations Center now uses AI algorithms to help identify the most urgent and imminent threats, freeing up limited human resources to focus specifically on addressing those threats directly in the field.
In one specific example cited by Raia, Zachary Charles Newell of Newport, North Carolina, was sentenced in March to two years in federal prison for posting online threats to “shoot up a black preschool” and harm children. Raia said that without AI assistance, it might have taken days or weeks for the FBI to fully investigate the case, but the AI system elevated the tip’s priority immediately, enabling a swift arrest.
Addressing Civil Liberties Concerns
When asked directly about concerns that expanded AI use could infringe on Americans’ civil liberties, Raia said the bureau has maintained transparency with Congress and relevant oversight boards specifically to ensure citizens’ rights remain protected throughout this technological shift. “Somebody has to police the police, right?” Raia said, noting that the bureau has submitted at least 50,000 pages of documents for review over the past year and a half.
“We are not taking away the privacies or the civil liberties of Americans, whether it’s AI or any of the other responsibilities that we have as an agency,” he added.
Separately, privacy advocates have raised ongoing concerns about potential rights violations connected to Flock Safety, a company supplying automated license plate readers to roughly 6,000 law enforcement agencies nationwide, with collected data reportedly shared with federal agencies as well. Addressing this specific technology, Raia defended its investigative value. “As far as the Flock cameras go, those are vital in our investigations as far as leads and as far as finding folks,” he said.
Targeting Cartels and Transnational Gangs
Raia also discussed broader Trump administration initiatives focused on drug cartels and transnational criminal gangs. He pointed to the creation of the Homeland Security Task Force, established by executive order in January 2025, as a key development enabling deeper collaboration between the FBI and other federal agencies, including Homeland Security Investigations, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Treasury Department, and the Department of Defense.
In August, that collaborative effort produced concrete results, with 81 alleged members of a violent gang in Puerto Rico charged with drug trafficking and firearms violations as part of the broader Homeland Security Task Force Initiative.
As FBI AI threat detection capabilities continue expanding across the bureau’s operations, officials appear focused on balancing faster threat response with continued oversight, even as questions about surveillance technology and civil liberties remain part of the ongoing public conversation.
Source: This article is based on reporting by Anna Schecter, Cara Tabachnick, Richard Esposito, and Pat Milton for CBS News.