U.S. Launches Task Force To Guard Against A.I. Threats

The U.S. Justice Department has launched a new task force whose mission is to guard against foreign artificial intelligence (A.I.) threats. 

The new “Super Intelligence Task Force” aims to defend the U.S. from the illicit use of A.I. that may threaten American interests.

Those interests include financial and cryptocurrencies. The new task force has been struck about a week after the record-breaking $6.3 billion U.S. theft from crypto exchange Binance. 

Attorney General Todd Blanche said the Justice Department’s effort will “ensure critical SI technologies serve the American people and are not manipulated by bad actors.”

Specifically, U.S. law enforcement is targeting “state-sponsored actors, transnational criminal organizations, and individual or corporate actors engaged in fraud or other unlawful conduct.” 

The Trump administration has ratcheted up its focus on A.I. threats at the same time that it’s promoting the technology and actively working on new cryptocurrency policies and legislation. 

There are growing concerns about the threat posed to cryptocurrencies, banks, and financial markets by powerful A.I. technologies and quantum computers.

Some analysts have said that the recent Binance hack has served as a wake-up call to governments, regulators, and financial markets around the world. 

The Binance incident has rattled investor confidence in the security of cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin (CRYPTO: $BTC), as well as custody of digital assets. 

Bitcoin is trading at $75,000 U.S. early on Nov. 6 and has been under pressure since the Binance theft was disclosed publicly on Oct. 30.