Subcommittee on Counterterrorism and Intelligence Chairman August Pfluger requested on March 23 that the Government Accountability Office conduct a comprehensive review of how violent extremists and malicious actors are using emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence, for harmful purposes.
The request comes as concerns grow about adversaries exploiting advanced AI tools to create propaganda, spread misinformation, and speed up online radicalization. According to the letter sent by Pfluger, generative artificial intelligence allows extremists to produce targeted recruitment materials at low cost while agentic artificial intelligence can automate harmful behaviors with little human involvement.
“As artificial intelligence (AI) increasingly becomes a part of the everyday lives of Americans, so too do malicious actors seek to exploit emerging AI technologies and applications to pursue harmful, even deadly, agendas… Violent extremists and other illicit actors—including but not limited to insiders who pose threats and malicious cyber actors—will inevitably seek inventive ways to exploit these emerging technologies to support a wide range of terrorist tactics and other criminal activities,” Pfluger wrote in his letter. He added: “The use of GenAI and AAI by violent extremists and other illicit actors poses a broad and evolving national security threat. The speed, scale, and adaptability these technologies enable will challenge the federal government’s ability to detect, respond to, and deter terrorist activities; however, the nature and scope of the challenges associated with countering these AI-enabled threats are not well understood.”
In November 2025, Congress passed Pfluger’s “Generative AI Terrorism Risk Assessment Act,” which requires annual assessments by the Department of Homeland Security regarding terrorism threats from organizations using generative AI applications for terrorist activity. Earlier in March 2025, he held a hearing focused on how foreign terrorist groups use technology such as the internet for recruitment or attacks within the United States.
Pfluger has served in Congress representing Texas’s 11th District since 2021 after replacing Mike Conaway according to Ballotpedia. In addition,he was born in Houston in 1978and currently lives in San Angelo. In the general election held in 2020,Pfluger defeated Jon Mark Hogg, receiving nearly eighty percent of votes.