NSA turns to artificial intelligence to accelerate data analysis and cyber defense

During a panel with Five Eyes officials at the Billington Cybersecurity Summit, NSA cybersecurity chief David Imbordino explained that artificial-intelligence systems are being explored to cut the time needed to sift through the agency’s daily flood of foreign communications and sensor data. He said the sheer volume of information has always been a challenge, but AI offers the promise of reaching critical "nuggets" far more rapidly.

Imbordino’s directorate, which handles both intelligence collection and cyber-defense, expects analysts to rely increasingly on these tools to evaluate disparate data sets in a matter of hours rather than weeks. The agency is also engaging with frontier AI companies, as deputy director Tim Kosiba highlighted the need for access to a broad range of models. This effort aligns with a recent executive order that requires national-security agencies to test AI systems for advanced hacking capabilities and to arrange voluntary early access to new models before broader release.