Gardaí and European police forces are exploring if foreign powers used AI agents to send thousands of hoax bomb threats across Ireland, the UK and Italy, Extra.ie has learned.

The mass disturbance caused panic yesterday as schools and media organisations received identical emails, which caused many places to evacuate out of an abundance of caution.

Despite the chilling email, which had the subject line ‘DEATH IS NEAR’, gardaí established that the threats were ‘non-credible’.

Extra.ie understands that the email was sent from a Taiwanese domain name but European security services are trying to work out if it actually originated there. The message claimed to be from Mikhail Andropov, the same name used in similar threats to media organisations and airlines last week.

Those hoax emails – which falsely claimed there were bombs aboard planes – caused flights across the continent to carry out emergency landings.

The email sent to schools said: ‘This is Mikhail Andropov, leader of the “Red Owl” project. We’ve come to destroy you.’ It threatened genocide and said ‘a powerful explosive device with a remote detonator in a plastic bag’ had been left ‘inside your building’.

It also said a bomb had been planted ‘in your prime minister’s car engine’. The exact same email was sent to hundreds of schools in the North as well as hundreds of schools in Italy and Scotland.

While gardaí are working with European and international colleagues, it is being investigated if a hostile state, such as Russia, was behind the communications. Cyber experts are exploring if AI agents were used to send the huge volume of threats in such a short space of time.

‘This is one theory being explored right now,’ one source told Extra.ie. ‘There is a lot of work being done to disrupt us hosting the European summit.

‘Gardaí have been expecting some kind of issue and now we know it’s bomb threats. That’s not to say gardaí are discounting any other form of disruption – quite the opposite. But with the scale of messages, they’re thinking AI or someone using AI agents were able to get this sort of operation together.

‘Gardaí don’t want people to drop their guard down if they do get a bomb threat. That’s the issue – people get immune to them, thinking they’re all fake.’

Unlike a standard chatbot or AI assistant that generates text in response to a prompt, an AI agent acts more like an active worker. According to Meta, AI agents break down large objectives into steps, interact with software or databases, evaluate results, and adjust its approach until the job is done.

A Garda spokesman said it is ‘aware of a generic communication sent on Wednesday 11 November. An Garda Síochána assesses this threat as not credible and is not advising any establishment to evacuate’.

Taoiseach Micheál Martin said in the Dáil yesterday: ‘An Garda Síochána received several hundred calls and will liaise with each school in turn, noting that with the volume of calls this may take some time. An Garda Síochána has advised the Department and schools that based on their review of the threat, there is no need for schools to evacuate as these are generic email threats.’

Education Minister Hildegarde Naughton said she spoke with Justice Minister Jim O’Callaghan yesterday morning. She said: ‘The safety and wellbeing of students, staff and school communities remains our highest priority and my Department will continue to work closely with An Garda Síochána on this matter.

‘Gardaí advised my Department and are advising schools that they assess this threat as not credible and there’s no need for schools to evacuate.’ Italy’s education minister Giuseppe Valditara said 312 schools there received threats. Crowds of schoolchildren could be seen outside schools throughout Italy.

The threats come as authorities mounted a ring of steel in the capital for a major EU summit, with delegates arriving for events today and tomorrow.

Traffic restrictions and extensive road closures came into force yesterday, and run through until late tomorrow. Garda Commissioner Justin Kelly said there is a zero-tolerance approach to protests which block infrastructure or interfere with the EU events.