WASHINGTON, July 8 — Merrick Garland, the 86th Attorney General of the United States, has made the prosecution of metal theft rings targeting AI data centre construction a priority for the Department of Justice. The detail that matters under the hood of this effort is that stolen graphics processing units — the specialised chips that power artificial intelligence models — are being treated not merely as stolen property but as a matter of national security.
Garland, who has served as Attorney General since March 2021, previously oversaw the prosecution of the Oklahoma City bombing case in 1995 and served as a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit from 1997 to 2021. Born in 1952 in Chicago, Illinois, he holds a B.A. from Harvard University and a J.D. from Harvard Law School.
The technical reality of his current role involves coordinating federal law enforcement against a specific kind of organised crime: the theft of high-value components from the sprawling construction sites where tech companies are racing to build data centres. The DOJ’s 2024 annual report recorded that metal theft prosecutions increased by 20% year-over-year, with data centre cases representing 15% of the total. In February 2025, the department announced the formation of a task force to combat organised crime theft at AI data centre sites, coordinating with the FBI and DHS.
The DOJ has secured convictions in 10 cases related to data centre theft since 2023, with sentences ranging from 2 to 10 years. Garland has emphasised the national security implications of such thefts.
The concern, as ever, is that stolen GPUs could be diverted to adversaries. The chips are compact, valuable on the black market, and essential infrastructure for the AI sector that the United States considers strategically critical.
The task force mechanism
The February 2025 task force announcement represented a formal escalation. The DOJ, the FBI and DHS are now operating a coordinated structure to target what prosecutors describe as organised criminal networks. The technical detail that matters is that these are not opportunistic scrap-metal thieves.
The thefts involve planning, logistics for moving heavy equipment, and established channels for resale. The task force is designed to disrupt those channels.
The 10 convictions secured since 2023 demonstrate the department’s capacity to build cases. Sentences of 2 to 10 years reflect the range of offences — from individual thefts to larger conspiracy charges. The 20% year-over-year increase in metal theft prosecutions, with data centre cases making up 15% of the total, suggests the problem is growing faster than enforcement can contain it.
National security framing
Garland’s emphasis on the national security dimension is significant. The DOJ under his leadership has treated the diversion of advanced chips to adversaries as a threat that goes beyond property crime. The technical reality is that the same GPUs powering American AI development are also sought by state actors and non-state groups who lack access to them through legitimate channels.
The DOJ annual report data provides the statistical foundation for the policy response. The 15% share of data centre cases within the broader metal theft category indicates a specialised problem that requires a specialised response.
The task force structure is the department’s answer to that need. What to watch next is whether the prosecution rate continues to accelerate. The 10 convictions since 2023 represent a baseline; the task force has been operational since February 2025.
The DOJ’s ability to maintain or increase that pace will determine whether the theft rings adapt or are disrupted. Garland’s background — a prosecutor who handled the Oklahoma City bombing case, a judge who spent 24 years on the D.C. Circuit — suggests a methodical approach to building cases that stick.
