United States, Nationwide
US Customs and Border Protection
Babel Street 'Babel' open-source and social media analysis, supplied by Babel Street
OperationalOfficial publicationPAI-EA8ACB7E
- Body
- US Customs and Border Protection
- Country
- United States
- Area
- Nationwide
- Technology
- Babel Street 'Babel' open-source and social media analysis
- Supplier
- Babel Street
- Status
- Operational
In routine use by the named body, on the evidence of a public source. - Stage
- In use now
- Since
- August 2023
- Legal basis
- Not stated in the source
- Oversight
- Not stated in the source
- Evidence
- Official publication
Police force, government department or public body publication - Source
- Office of Management and Budget, 2025 federal AI use case inventory (DHS-185)
- Last checked
- Record code
PAI-EA8ACB7E
Notes
The DHS 2025 AI Use Case Inventory (entry DHS-185, as consolidated by the Office of Management and Budget) lists 'Babel' as deployed. The entry says Babel uses AI modules for text detection and translation and for object and image recognition to give analysts possible matches, used to find further open-source or social media accounts of a person and previously unknown selectors such as phone numbers and emails, which analysts compare with government systems; DHS says this can often remove a traveller from further screening and that the output is not used alone for action. It cites CBP Privacy Impact Assessment PIA-058 and classes the use as high-impact.
Other systems used by US Customs and Border Protection
| Deployment | Country | Supplier | Since | Status | Checked |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Customs and Border ProtectionTraveler Verification Service facial matching | United StatesUnited States, air land and sea ports of entry | NEC (facial matching algorithm), per the DHS 2025 AI Use Case Inventory; operated by US Customs and Border Protection (cloud-based) | 2017 | Operational | |
| US Customs and Border ProtectionFederal Mobile Biometric Identification (Mobile Fortify) | United StatesNationwide, including 287(g) partner agencies | NEC, named in the DHS 2025 AI Use Case Inventory as the vendor for CBP; built on CBP's Traveler Verification Service; app first reported by 404 Media | 2025 | Operational | |
| US Customs and Border ProtectionAutonomous Surveillance Towers | United StatesBorder Patrol sectors on the southwest and northern borders | Anduril Industries | 2018 | Operational | |
| US Customs and Border ProtectionOpen source and social media analysis (NexisXplore) | United StatesNationwide | NexisXplore (as listed in the inventory) | 2025 | Operational | |
| US Customs and Border ProtectionPredictive Intelligence Program: licence plate reader networks with a travel-pattern algorithm | United StatesBorder Patrol: southwest and northern borders and interior highways | — | — | Operational | |
| US Customs and Border ProtectionAccess to Flock Safety licence plate reader cameras (pilot) | United StatesNationwide | Flock Safety | 2025 | Discontinued | |
| US Customs and Border ProtectionAcoustic gunshot detection pilot (Invariant Corporation) | United StatesSouthwest border | Invariant Corporation | 2025 | Trial | |
| US Customs and Border ProtectionClearview AI facial recognition for national security and transnational criminal organisation investigations (Border Patrol pilot) | United StatesNationwide | Clearview AI | 2025 | Trial | |
| US Customs and Border ProtectionThruWave millimetre-wave 3D imaging for contraband in imported mail (pilot) | United StatesMail facilities | ThruWave | 2025 | Trial | |
| US Customs and Border ProtectionDataminr alerts for travel threat analysis | United StatesNationwide | Dataminr | 2024 | Operational | |
| US Customs and Border ProtectionThruvision passive body scanner with detection algorithm | United StatesPorts of entry | ThruVision TAC 16 | 2023 | Operational | |
| US Customs and Border ProtectionCBP Translate (machine interpretation for officers and agents) | United StatesNationwide | Aneesh Technologies, 24X7, Ellumen Inc., Deloitte, NiyamIT | 2019 | Operational | |
| US Customs and Border ProtectionPassenger Security Assessment Model (Automated Targeting System) | United StatesNationwide | — | 2013 | Operational | |
| US Customs and Border ProtectionCargo Security Assessment Model (Automated Targeting System) | United StatesNationwide | — | 2011 | Operational | |
| US Customs and Border ProtectionIllicit Trade risk model for inbound cargo | United StatesNationwide | — | 2023 | Operational | |
| US Customs and Border ProtectionTraveler Entity Resolution models | United StatesNationwide | — | 2012 | Operational | |
| US Customs and Border ProtectionPassport Anomaly Model | United StatesNationwide | ManTech | 2017 | Operational | |
| US Customs and Border ProtectionTrade Entity Risk Model | United StatesNationwide | ManTech | 2025 | Operational | |
| US Customs and Border ProtectionAltana entity resolution for supply-chain forced labour risk | United StatesNationwide | Altana | 2023 | Operational | |
| US Customs and Border ProtectionUnified Processing / Mobile Intake facial matching (NEC) | United StatesNationwide | NEC (Nippon Electric Company) | 2022 | Operational | |
| US Customs and Border ProtectionCBP Link liveness check and facial matching (iProov) | United StatesNationwide | iProov | 2025 | Operational | |
| US Customs and Border ProtectionTRM Labs cryptocurrency analysis | United StatesNationwide | TRM Labs | 2025 | Operational | |
| US Customs and Border ProtectionTraffic Jam (Marinus Analytics) facial recognition and data search for missing and trafficked people | United StatesNationwide | Marinus Analytics | 2025 | Operational | |
| US Customs and Border ProtectionLand Border Integration: licence plate and occupant face recognition at land ports (Rekor) | United StatesLand ports of entry | Rekor | 2021 | Operational | |
| US Customs and Border ProtectionERNIE analysis of radiation portal monitor data | United StatesPorts of entry | DHS Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction Office (as listed in the inventory) | 2017 | Operational | |
| US Customs and Border ProtectionAirship Outpost identification of conveyances | United StatesNationwide | Airship | 2023 | Operational | |
| US Customs and Border ProtectionMatroid automated item of interest detection in Border Patrol imagery | United StatesBetween ports of entry | Matroid | 2020 | Operational | |
| US Customs and Border ProtectionVessel detection from camera imagery | United StatesMaritime border areas | JHU APL | 2025 | Operational | |
| US Customs and Border ProtectionKESTREL aircraft landing location predictor (Maxar) | United StatesAir and maritime domain | Maxar | 2022 | Operational | |
| US Customs and Border ProtectionEmpty container detection model for X-ray images | United StatesPorts of entry | — | 2023 | Operational | |
| US Customs and Border ProtectionCommodity detection model for X-ray images | United StatesPorts of entry | — | 2025 | Operational | |
| US Customs and Border ProtectionAI triage of smartphone content during inspection | United States | — | — | Proposed | |
| US Customs and Border ProtectionAdvanced Analytics for X-ray Images (AAXI) | United StatesPorts of entry | — | — | Proposed | |
| US Customs and Border ProtectionAnomaly detection in vehicle inspection images (two planned models) | United StatesPorts of entry | — | — | Proposed | |
| US Customs and Border ProtectionIntegrated Defense and Security Solutions parcel anomaly detection | United StatesPorts of entry | — | — | Proposed | |
| US Customs and Border ProtectionAI-enabled autonomous underwater vehicle | United States | — | — | Proposed | |
| US Customs and Border ProtectionRelocatable Multi-Sensor System | United States | — | — | Proposed | |
| US Customs and Border ProtectionCBP Common AI Service: image analysis and data correlation | United States | — | — | Proposed | |
| US Customs and Border ProtectionTethered Aerostat Radar System vessel and object detection | United States | — | — | Proposed | |
| US Customs and Border ProtectionRAPTOR (Rapid Tactical Operations Reconnaissance) | United StatesAlong US borders | — | — | Proposed | |
| US Customs and Border ProtectionGeoseismic detection and classification of items of interest for unattended ground sensors | United States | — | — | Proposed |
Babel Street 'Babel' open-source and social media analysis elsewhere in United States
See them in the tracker| Deployment | Country | Supplier | Since | Status | Checked |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boston Police DepartmentAI Social Media Monitoring | United StatesMassachusetts | LifeRaft | 2026 | Operational | |
| ICE Homeland Security InvestigationsAI Social Media Monitoring | United States | Zignal Labs (via Carahsoft) | — | Proposed | |
| ICE Homeland Security InvestigationsGenerative AI summaries and translation of dark web data for cyber investigations | United StatesNationwide | — | 2024 | Operational | |
| ICE Homeland Security InvestigationsPenlink and Fivecast open-source intelligence platforms with generative AI | United StatesNationwide | Penlink, Fivecast | 2023 | Operational | |
| US Immigration and Customs EnforcementAI open-source research for lead identification and targeting | United StatesNationwide | — | — | Proposed | |
| Federal Bureau of InvestigationTranslation, OCR, object detection and alert filtering for open-source and threat intelligence | United StatesNationwide | — | — | Operational | |
| Drug Enforcement AdministrationData and analytics database tools for open-source investigation | United StatesNationwide | — | — | Operational | |
| US Marshals ServiceOpen Source Investigative Tool | United StatesNationwide | — | — | Operational |