Patel Says FBI Use of AI Is Up 605% to Triage Threats and Stop School Shootings
September 21, 2026 · FBI – Federal Bureau of Investigation · 0:01:05
Embedded from the source channel — never re-uploaded. Watch on YouTube
What happened
FBI Director Kash Patel, asked about the bureau’s use of artificial intelligence to disrupt a potential school shooting in North Carolina, said the FBI has done the same in North Carolina and about half a dozen other states to prevent school shootings since he took the seat, according to Patel.
Patel said AI, when used lawfully, is a critical tool to triage data, and that the institutional morass in Washington had for too long rejected technological advancement, according to the interview. He said he has increased the FBI’s use of AI by 605%, allowing the bureau to work with private-sector partners and state and local authorities, search its databases, collect information including DNA, and push threats back out to the field to stop people from killing children at schools, according to Patel.
Patel said that mission is not political, said the bureau will continue relying on technology to safeguard children, and credited President Trump with the most technological advancement in FBI history in the last 18 months, pointing to averted school shootings and terrorist attacks and to murderers and fraudsters caught, according to Patel.
Why it matters
The clip puts a specific, checkable figure — a 605% increase in FBI AI use over 18 months — on the bureau’s stated shift toward technology-driven threat triage under Patel.
Sources: FBI – Federal Bureau of Investigation, “Patel: FBI’s Use of AI Up 605% to Triage Threats”, 2026-09-21 (official upload, embedded above; published 2026-09-21). Transcript via Supadata (private research store, paraphrased and attributed, not republished). All figures and characterizations as stated by the speakers.
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