Artificial intelligence giant Anthropic has disclosed that an Iranian-linked actor used its Claude AI chatbot to collect and analyze intelligence on U.S. naval forces operating in the Middle East.
According to the company, the AI bot was exploited to aggregate publicly available information about American ships, aircraft and military personnel, building targeting and surveillance materials from scattered open-source data.
After Anthropic identified the suspicious activity, it investigated the account, terminated access and shared its findings with U.S. authorities.
The incident underscores a broader warning from the company: artificial intelligence enables hostile actors to transform publicly available but dispersed information into actionable intelligence at unprecedented speed and scale.
The revelation highlights a new dimension of concern amid mounting warnings from industry leaders about AI dangers, not just how artificial intelligence can be used to attack, but how it can convert information already on the internet into a powerful intelligence weapon.
