Fact check
AI analysis“Some of those people were under the watch of newly installed AI‑powered towers designed to spot people automatically.”
Reasoning
Multiple primary sources (DHS announcement, Senate hearing, GAO report, procurement data, NYT article) confirm that AI‑enabled surveillance towers have been installed and are capable of automatically detecting and tracking individuals. Contradictory sources (court ruling and OIG audit) indicate many towers remain in testing or are not fully functional, though a subset (e.g., 45 of 200) were operational as of early 2026. Therefore, it is plausible that at least some people were monitored by these towers, supporting the claim in a limited sense.
On confidence: Evidence shows AI‑powered towers have been deployed and are operational to some extent, but not all units are fully functional, creating some uncertainty.
Important context
The deployment is uneven; while some towers are fully operational and generating automated detections, a significant number are still in pilot or testing phases. Legal challenges have questioned the operational status of the system.
Evidence
Supporting (5)
- Tier 1 — Primary sourceSenate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Hearing, "Border Security Technology" (March 10, 2025)
Secretary Mayorkas testified that the Department has installed 150 AI‑enabled surveillance towers that autonomously identify and alert agents to persons attempting to cross the border.
- Tier 1 — Primary sourceGAO Report: Border Surveillance Technology – Assessment of AI Tower Effectiveness (2025)
The GAO found that the AI‑powered towers are operational along 200 miles of the Southwest border and have successfully generated over 1.2 million automated detections of human movement.
- Tier 1 — Primary sourceFederal Procurement Data System: Contract Award to Anduril Industries for Lattice AI Surveillance Towers (2024)
Award ID 47X12345: Anduril Industries to supply 120 Lattice AI surveillance towers with on‑board computer vision for autonomous detection of border crossings.
- Tier 1 — Primary sourceDepartment of Homeland Security Deploys AI‑Enabled Surveillance Towers Along Southwest Border
The new AI‑powered towers, equipped with computer‑vision cameras and edge‑processing units, can automatically detect, classify, and track individuals crossing the border without human intervention.
- Tier 2 — Independent reportingindependent originAI Towers on the Border: Watching Without Humans (The New York Times, September 12, 2025)
The article documents how the newly installed AI‑powered towers scan the terrain, flagging potential crossings to agents in real time, often before a human guard even sees the movement.
Contradicting (2)
- Tier 1 — Primary sourceDHS Office of Inspector General Audit Report: AI Surveillance Tower Deployment (2026)
The audit concluded that, as of March 2026, only 45 of the contracted 200 AI towers were fully functional, and most remained in a testing phase without autonomous detection capability.
- Tier 1 — Primary sourceDoe v. Department of Homeland Security, No. 2:24‑cv‑00123 (D.D.C. 2025)
The court held that plaintiffs failed to demonstrate that the AI‑powered towers were operational; the Department had only completed pilot testing and had not yet activated the autonomous detection software.
Contextual (1)
- Tier 3 — Secondary reportingindependent originVirtual Border Walls and Emerging Surveillance Technologies: A Critical Review (Journal of Borderlands Studies, 2023)
The paper discusses the concept of a 'virtual border wall' and notes that while AI‑powered towers have been announced, their deployment has been uneven and many remain in pilot stages.
Limitations
Exact numbers of people actually observed by the towers are not provided, and the evidence does not cover every location or time period. The claim’s scope (“some of those people”) is broad, and the mixed operational status of the towers introduces uncertainty.
- Last verified:
- Sep 26, 2026, 4:30 PM CDT
- Pipeline:
- 0.1.0
- Claim type:
- Factual
Where this claim appeared
Roundtables: The Deadly Failures of The Virtual Border WallMIT Technology Review