US spies lag rivals in seizing on data hiding in plain sight

WASHINGTON (AP) — Many current and former intelligence officials are increasingly warning that the $90 billion U.S. spy apparatus is falling behind because it has not embraced collecting open-source intelligence. Officials and experts worry the U.S. hasn’t invested enough people or money in analyzing publicly available data or taking advantage of advanced technologies that can yield critical insights. Adversaries including China are ramping up efforts to steal and acquire American data, which can be exploited with artificial intelligence and machine learning to reveal secrets the U.S. wants to keep private. U.S. intelligence has pushed gradually to adopt technology and reveal some of what it knows — notably that it believed for months Russian President Vladimir Putin would invade Ukraine.