Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco Delivers Remarks at the Disruptive Technology Protection Network Summit

Good morning and welcome. It’s a pleasure to join you all today.

For those visiting the Justice Department for the first time, I’m proud to welcome you to the Great Hall.

This is a space we use to honor some of the Department’s most significant achievements.

So, as we’re joined for today’s Summit by partners from Japan and the Republic of Korea, I can think of no better place for this convening with such valued allies.

I want to thank the delegations — comprised of senior officials from key agencies in your governments – for joining us today.

And I want to thank my colleagues at the Justice Department’s National Security Division, the Commerce Department, and interagency partners for leading the U.S. delegation today and for spearheading our Disruptive Technology Strike Force.

Today’s Summit reflects our shared commitment to a critical principle: to combat today’s national security threats, we cannot go it alone. 

We must work together. We must partner – not only across our own governments — but across the globe.

Last August, President Biden convened leaders of our three nations at Camp David.

Those talks stressed the importance of enhancing law enforcement cooperation across our countries to address unprecedented threats — including how we prevent the abuse of disruptive technologies by our adversaries.  

The commitments made at Camp David helped lead us here today — and they sparked the formation of the Disruptive Technology Protection Network.

Our countries are working together, across our enforcement agencies, to deepen information-sharing, enhance coordination, and achieve greater impact.

The threats we face are urgent.

So, we must do everything possible to prevent our most critical and innovative technologies from being used to endanger international peace and collective security.

This network builds on the work of our Disruptive Technology Strike Force – a venture I announced last year, co-led by the Department of Justice and the Commerce Department.

This effort joins forces across federal agencies, bringing together our top experts to strike back against adversaries trying to siphon our most powerful technologies and use them against us.

Together we’ve made great strides in mitigating threats posed by adversaries and autocrats across the world.

So far, the Strike Force has made 16 arrests and secured four guilty pleas — of executives, engineers, distributors, and other high-profile targets from around the globe for a range of crimes:

From alleged sanctions and export control violations to money laundering to stealing trade secrets.

And we’ve taken action against companies in the defense, airline, and freight forwarding industries, cutting off their access to sensitive U.S. technology.

Despite these accomplishments, we’re clear-eyed: these threats will continue to grow and evolve. And they will not be contained by any border.

That’s why we’re together today — because our most critical tool is one we don’t share with our adversaries: the power of our partnerships.

We need to leverage those partnerships more than ever — because we are confronting the same malign actors:

• Autocracies seeking to project power at home and abroad, some pushing propaganda on social media fueled by powerful algorithms;
• Adversaries challenging norms; and 
• Rogue nation-states determined to undermine democracy and the rule of law.

From China backing cyber hackers who target international businesses and political leaders; to Russia unleashing the most significant land invasion in Europe since the Second World War; to Iran plotting to assassinate dissidents around the world.

The threats we face today play out on battlefields and economic zones and information spaces.

They play out in cyberattacks that vacuum up sensitive data and exploit restricted technology.

And they play out on the cell phones we carry and the online apps we enjoy, which nation-state adversaries can weaponize to steal our data and control the content we access.

Just this week, our President signed bipartisan legislation to address the national security threat posed by online apps controlled by foreign adversaries, including TikTok. 

Because these actors are not only attempting to exert influence today. They are positioning themselves for the conflicts of tomorrow. 

They seek tactical advantage by acquiring, using, and abusing disruptive technology.

And because artificial intelligence is the ultimate disruptive technology, our Strike Force has placed AI at the very top of its enforcement priority list.

But no matter how technology changes — we know our Strike Force model works.

By joining forces at home and abroad — by coming together today and in the days to come — we reinforce our shared commitment to this vital mission.

I look forward to the work that we will do together — and I thank you for your partnership.

Before I conclude, I want to share special appreciation for our two U.S. co-leads of this important initiative: Assistant Attorney General Matt Olsen of the Justice Department’s National Security Division and Assistant Secretary for Export Enforcement Matt Axelrod of the Commerce Department. Their leadership has been instrumental on this issue. Thanks to both of them and their teams.

Once again, thank you for joining today’s Summit.  

Thank you for the work you are doing to strike back against our adversaries around the world — as we attack tomorrow’s national security threats today.

Thank you.