Interpol uses AI to identify 126 terrorists by analyzing over 100,000 images with new facial recognition tools
Interpol says the AI's real job was decluttering the stack to 6,362 for a face matcher launched in 2016.
Interpol's Operation Shams II utilized artificial intelligence to identify 126 suspected terrorists by analyzing over 108,076 images extracted from jihadist propaganda, according to a recent report. The international police organization collaborated with 11 countries, utilizing AI agents and scripts to deduplicate and quality-check the set, ultimately leaving 6,362 images, representing approximately 5.9% of the original images.
Interpol's facial recognition system, launched in 2016, then matched the remaining images to actual persons, with human verification involved in the process. Of the 126 suspected fighters identified so far, 126 have been confirmed as potential terrorists. The operation, which took place in Tunisia in June 2026, demonstrates the value of combining international law enforcement cooperation with responsible AI-assisted analytical capabilities, according to Interpol's Director of Counter-Terrorism, María Carmen Muñoz González.
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