NSA to launch AI Security Center to oversee development and integration

The Department of Defense announced Thursday that the National Security Agency will launch the AI Security Center, which will consolidate various artificial intelligence-related security activities.

NSA Director Army General Paul M. Nakasone announced last week that the new entity will "address threats and retain our nation's advantage in AI." He also noted that the new entity will be a part of the agency's Cybersecurity Collaboration Center, which works with the private sector, interagency, and international partners to address cyber threats.

"The AI Security Center will become NSA's focal point for leveraging foreign intelligence insights contributing to the development of best practices, guidelines, principles, evaluation methodology, and risk frameworks for AI security. With an end goal of promoting the secure development, integration, and adoption of AI capabilities within our national security system and defense industrial base," Nakasone stated.

The center will assess and eradicate potential threats to intellectual property. Nakasone emphasized the importance of the U.S. maintaining its leadership in AI and the technology's crucial role in national security.

"AI will be increasingly consequential for national security in diplomatic, technological and economic matters for our country and our allies and partners," he said.

"Today, the U.S. leads in this critical area, but this lead should not be taken for granted," Nakasone continued. "Our adversaries, who have for decades used theft and exploitation of our intellectual property to advance their interests, will seek to co-opt our advances in AI and corrupt our application of it."

American Principles Project policy director Jon Schweppe told Fox News Digital that he is skeptical about the NSA's use of AI technology, noting that the agency has "demonstrated a history of abusing their power with the data collection operation previously uncovered by a whistleblower."

"Nobody is clamoring for more data mining and invasion of privacy from three-letter agencies," he said. "We don't even know the full scale of the dangers we're facing with this emerging technology — should we really be entrusting a corrupt bureaucratic agency with even more power? Congress should be looking to limit the scope of these domestic spying operations, not giving them a de facto green light."

A spokesperson for the NSA told Fox News Digital that the launch of the new entity will consolidate "various AI security-related activities."

The spokesperson noted that the agency "is uniquely well positioned to bring its technical expertise, threat insights, and authorities as National Manager for National Security Systems and its work with the Defense Industrial Base to support whole-of-government efforts in conjunction with the private sector to ensure an enduring U.S. advantage in AI."

"NSA's principles and values, along with our culture of compliance and protection of privacy and civil liberties, will serve as the foundation for the AISC's activities," the spokesperson added.

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