FBI using AI to stop school shootings
James Morley, May 5, 2026, https://www.newsmax.com/us/fbi-kash-patel-ai/2026/05/05/id/1255294/, FBI Chief Patel: AI Helped Stop School Shooting Plots
FBI Director Kash Patel said the bureau has begun deploying artificial intelligence tools to disrupt potential acts of violence, including planned school shootings, as part of a broader effort to modernize federal law enforcement.
“AI was never used at the FBI till we got there,” Patel said. “I’m using it everywhere.”
In an interview Monday on Sean Hannity’s podcast, Patel said the FBI has integrated AI into its investigative workflow to process the thousands of tips it receives each week. He described the shift as a significant departure from prior practices.
According to Patel, AI-assisted analysis helped agents intervene in multiple cases, including a potential school massacre in North Carolina and a separate planned attack in New York.
In both instances, tips were rapidly assessed using AI tools, allowing investigators to prioritize credible threats and act quickly.
The FBI has increasingly emphasized partnerships with private-sector technology firms, Patel added, noting that some intelligence originated from companies developing AI infrastructure.
The remarks come as the bureau works to reshape its public image following years of political scrutiny and declining trust.
During the Biden administration, the FBI faced criticism from Republican lawmakers and some segments of the public over its handling of politically sensitive investigations and allegations of bias.
Now under new leadership aligned with the Trump administration, the bureau is highlighting technological innovation and crime prevention successes as part of an effort to rebuild credibility.
The focus on AI-driven threat detection reflects a broader strategy to present the FBI as more proactive, efficient, and responsive to public safety concerns.
While Patel framed the use of AI as a breakthrough in preventing violence, the expansion of such tools is also likely to draw scrutiny from civil liberties advocates, who have raised concerns about surveillance, data privacy and the potential for algorithmic bias in law enforcement.
Non-unique: Trump not fighting terrorism
Michael Jacobson, May 4, 2026, The U.S. Shouldn’t Lose Sight of the Real Terrorist Threats, https://www.justsecurity.org/137343/us-shouldnt-lose-sight-real-terrorist-threats/
Although the threat environment is arguably worsening, the Trump administration does not appear to be sufficiently prioritizing counterterrorism efforts. According to multiple news reports, early in the administration, the FBI diverted significant counterterrorism resources to focus instead on immigration enforcement cases. And in the days leading up to the war with Iran, FBI Director Kash Patel reportedly fired a dozen members of a counterintelligence team focused on Iran because they had previously worked on cases involving President Donald Trump. To keep the country safe, the Trump administration must reprioritize its counterterrorism efforts before it’s too late.
Looking in the Wrong Direction
Since taking office, the Trump administration has reduced and diverted its counterterrorism workforce at the same time it has broadened the U.S. government’s reach and scope in this area by designating numerous cartels and gangs in Central America as terrorist organizations for the first time. These actions could stretch limited counterterrorism resources to monitor and investigate these cartels and gangs — at the expense of other more traditional threats such as Iran.
Furthermore, Reuters reported that the Trump administration was planning to create and lead a new global forum to counter the threat of the amorphous far-left movement known as antifa (short for “antifascist”). Antifa hardly represents the same type and level of threat as Iran-linked terrorism or global jihadist groups such as ISIS or al-Qaeda. In fact, antifa is not even a formal organization, although that didn’t stop the White House from issuing an executive order in January declaring it a “domestic terrorist organization.” Still, as a 2020 Congressional Research Service Report noted, antifa “lacks a unifying organizational structure or detailed ideology.” A senior FBI official identified antifa as the Bureau’s “most immediate violent threat” during a December 2025 congressional hearing, but he was unable to provide many details, merely describing the threat landscape as “fluid.” Many European officials are also deeply skeptical about the extent of the antifa threat, which will also limit the value of the proposed new forum. For example, after the United States designated two antifa-linked groups in Greece in November, a Greek official noted that while “antifa exists across Europe, including in Greece… until this day, they have been activists. They have not engaged in any terrorist activity.”
Terror threats increasingMichael Jacobson, May 4, 2026, The U.S. Shouldn’t Lose Sight of the Real Terrorist Threats, https://www.justsecurity.org/137343/us-shouldnt-lose-sight-real-terrorist-threats/
Hezbollah, Iran’s longest-standing terrorist partner, could take action. In 2019, a Hezbollah operative, who described himself to the FBI as a “sleeper agent,” was convicted in New York. When the Bureau asked what circumstances could lead to his activation, he replied: a U.S. war with Iran. An attack in Michigan last month by a Hezbollah-linked individual against a synagogue and preschool was fortunately disrupted, not by the FBI, but by alert synagogue security guards. Days earlier, members of the suspect’s family were killed in an Israeli airstrike in Lebanon, including a brother that the Israeli military said was a Hezbollah commander. The narrowly averted tragedy serves as an urgent warning about the dangers Iran and its global network pose right now.
AI used to protect national security
Sophia Compton, 12-20, 25, FBI Director Kash Patel says bureau ramping up AI to counter domestic, global threats, https://www.foxnews.com/politics/fbi-director-kash-patel-says-bureau-ramping-up-ai-counter-domestic-global-threats
FBI Director Kash Patel said Saturday the agency is ramping up its use of artificial intelligence (AI) tools to counter domestic and international threats.
In a post on X, Patel said the FBI has been advancing its technology, calling AI a “key component” of its strategy to respond to threats and stay “ahead of the game.”
“FBI has been working on key technology advances to keep us ahead of the game and respond to an always changing threat environment both domestically and on the world stage,” Patel wrote. “Artificial intelligence is a key component of this.
“We’ve been working on an AI project to assist our investigators and analysts in the national security space — staying ahead of bad actors and adversaries who seek to do us harm.”
The bureau is ramping up its use of AI tools to counter domestic and international threats. (Brendan Smialowski/AFP )
“These are investments that will pay dividends for America’s national security for decades to come,” Patel said.
A spokesperson for the FBI told Fox News Digital it had nothing further to add beyond Patel’s X post.
The FBI uses AI for tools such as vehicle recognition, voice-language identification, speech-to-text analysis and video analytics, according to the agency’s website.