Across the federal spectrum, agencies have increased AI adoption in mission-oriented and operational capacities within the last several years. The Department of Justice serves as no exception. A few weeks ago, I looked at HHS and VA AI use case inventories. This week, it is DOJ’s turn. Looking at Justice’s last three years of AI use case inventories helps to see just where department priorities lie when it comes to AI.  

Within the landing page of DOJ’s latest AI use case inventory, the department remarks that AI use cases at the agency, “reflects increasing collaboration among and within components to accelerate AI adoption and innovation.”

A look at DOJ’s total use cases across the three year spectrum reveals the department’s significant expansion in AI technologies. Justice reported nearly 2000% more use cases in 2025 from 2023, and about 30% more than 2024.

Of DOJ’s AI use cases in 2025, the department labeled nearly 36% as high-impact while the remaining 64%, or 200 cases, were reported as not high-impact. Interestingly, high-impact cases were more vendor sourced. Where acquisition type is specified in the inventory, about 61% of high-impact cases are labeled as “purchased from a vendor.”

Moreover, nearly 52% of use cases in the 2025 inventory have been deployed, with 34% in pre-deployment, 8% in pilot and 6% retired. DOJ’s AI maturity appears high with over half its AI use cases in deployments. The same holds true in 2024, when 168 of the 214 use cases were labeled as “Operation and Maintenance” where the use case had been defined as integrated into agency operations.

AI under the FBI expanded significantly, increasing from 19 use cases in 2024 to 50 use cases in 2025. Meanwhile, DEA consistently led AI adoption at the department in 2024 and 2025, with 39 and 43 use cases, respectively. Likewise, ATF also led AI adoption at DOJ with 38 cases in 2024 and 34 cases in 2025. Justice’s 2024 and 2025 AI use cases inventories show significant expansion of the technology across 20+ of the department’s agencies, a stark contrast from the seven bureaus that reported AI use cases in 2023.

Given DOJ’s mission, it is understandable that most of its AI use cases are law enforcement-related, followed by mission-enabling internal support, or administrative functions, as a distant second. Many of the use cases focus on cutting manual review time at the department, in particular converting unstructured data (audio, video, images, etc) into searchable and structured data. Use cases also focused on automating tedious steps to allow staff higher-value analysis.

Other use case types can be clumped together, such as finding anomalies or performing risk detection to prioritize and accelerate investigative leads at the department. Moreover, several use cases are associated with the modernization of administrative and IT processes, including automating routing, workflow assistance and network defense.

Additional observations:

• Computer vision use cases tended to be labeled as high-impact (65%) versus generative AI with 24% and natural language processing (NLP) at 35%.
  • Computer vision use cases across components typically consist of license plate recognition, facial recognition and video analytics.
• Generative AI use cases are still maturing at DOJ, with 60% of 2025 use cases labeled as pilot and 18% of use cases as deployed.
• Transcription/translation and FOIA redaction workflows are additional commonalities in AI use cases across agency components.

Overall, Justice’s AI use cases, much like agencies across the federal landscape, center on themes such as improved analytical efficiency and accuracy, enhanced data accessibility, and strengthened compliance. Over the past three years, the department has significantly expanded and matured its use of AI, increasing both the volume and diversity of applications. DOJ’s latest AI use case inventory offers valuable insight into emerging needs and opportunities for contractors looking to do business with the department, particularly those focused on AI and AI-related capabilities.