May 7 (Reuters) - The U.S. Department of Justice's antitrust head on Thursday warned companies against trying to misleadingly use artificial intelligence disruption as a defense in merger reviews without providing evidence.

Acting Assistant Attorney General Omeed Assefi oversees the DOJ's work reviewing mergers and said that merging parties are welcome to engage with his division at any point in the process.

However, "we know when you are trying to mislead us," he said at an event at New York University.

"We know you will be tempted to tell us that AI is replacing your industries. We get it. We hear that a lot. For us to take it seriously, we expect it to be backed up with actual evidence," he said, according to a copy of prepared remarks.