Anthropic flags Claude misuse for weapons, spying and cyber operations

Anthropic has disclosed that multiple actors used its Claude artificial intelligence models for activities spanning weapons development, cyber operations, surveillance and fraud, in a threat intelligence report released on Thursday.

Weapons development

A China-based actor allegedly used Claude to build an electronic-warfare and air-defence suppression software suite that ranked targets and modelled radar jamming. The project was modified to include 12 targets in Taiwan, among them early-warning radar, Patriot and Tien Kung missile batteries, air bases and a command bunker. Account information linked the actor to Chinese research institutions, including the People's Liberation Army Academy of Military Sciences. Anthropic banned the accounts. China's foreign ministry said it was unaware of the report and reiterated that AI should be developed for good, opposing what it called distortion of facts and smears. Beijing claims Taiwan as its territory and has not renounced the use of force; Taiwan rejects those sovereignty claims.

A separate China-based actor used Claude to help draft specifications and fire-control software for an anti-torpedo system intended for the Chinese navy, producing a technical proposal of more than 200 pages, comparing the system with U.S. Navy technology and simulating hostile technical reviews. Anthropic assessed the actor was associated with a Chinese defence manufacturer preparing a weapons specification and acquisition proposal for the PLA Navy.

Another China-based defence-intelligence actor researched foreign high-power microwave weapons, identified components and suppliers and traced supply chains, seeking information that could aid reverse-engineering and countermeasures, and drafting restricted briefings for senior party, military or state-security officials.

In northern Yemen, a cell allegedly used Claude to develop software for a guided rocket, a planned ballistic missile with a range exceeding 2,000 km and a variant incorporating a hypersonic glide vehicle, including coding, simulation and troubleshooting after a guided-rocket test appeared to fail. Anthropic said it found no evidence an operational weapon was fielded, adding that safeguards blocked many but not all requests. The report did not identify whether the actors were Houthis, the Iran-aligned group that controls most of northern Yemen and has intensified attacks on Saudi Arabia and its energy infrastructure.

Likely freelance Russia-based actors used Claude to develop software for an autonomous swarm of first-person-view attack drones, including terminal guidance, target selection and coordination between aircraft. Small FPV attack drones have become a central weapon in the Ukraine war. The Russian Embassy in Washington did not respond to questions about the allegations.

A Russia-based procurement manager used Claude to identify intermediaries in China and Hong Kong to acquire European-made goods with potential military uses and to work out routes through third countries that could obscure their destination. Items sought included German-made magnetometers, space-grade photovoltaic wafers and aviation oxygen systems. Russia has increasingly relied on intermediaries and alternative trade routes since Western sanctions and export restrictions followed its invasion of Ukraine.

Biological research

Anthropic detailed five case studies of attempts to use its models in ways that could support biological weapons development. These included efforts to obtain help drafting a grant application for research on modifying the chikungunya virus in a location where Anthropic does not offer services, and, in another case requiring users to obfuscate their location, research into highly pathogenic avian influenza. Other examples involved orthopoxvirus and non-transmissible novel venoms and toxins.

Cyber operations

Chinese-speaking operators likely based in Changsha, the capital of central China's Hunan province, allegedly used Claude in cyber operations against about 50 organisations, including foreign government networks. The group, said to include two university students in Hunan, used AI-driven workflows to search for previously unknown software vulnerabilities, develop exploits and conduct parts of intrusions with limited human supervision.

One hacking group allegedly ran phishing, hotel Wi-Fi hijacking and WhatsApp-takeover operations against Ukrainian government, military and diplomatic targets, using AI at nearly every stage. Its tradecraft was consistent with Russia-based threat actor Midnight Blizzard, which the U.S. government has previously linked to Russia's SVR foreign intelligence service.

An Iranian-linked operator used Claude to collect and analyse publicly accessible data to develop targeting recommendations against U.S. naval forces in the region. The material included a roster of U.S. personnel scraped from captions on public military photographs, publicly accessible ship and aircraft transponder identifiers and commercial satellite-imagery query scripts. The operator also directed Claude to compile vulnerability research on shipboard systems related to satellite and other communication equipment and industrial control products.

Surveillance

A China-aligned actor allegedly used Claude to track and approach Uyghurs in Syria, including people assessed as financially or personally vulnerable, offering payment for information about Uyghur units that had joined Syria's newly formed army. Beijing regards Uyghur armed groups abroad as terrorist organisations and has long cited militancy as justification for security policies targeting the predominantly Muslim ethnic group. Anthropic assessed with low confidence that the operator was a contractor working for Chinese state security.

China-linked actors also used Claude to compile intelligence on targets including Catholic cardinals, Taiwanese Christian leaders, Tibetan Buddhists, dissidents and activists. In a separate operation, Claude was used to automate government-style reports monitoring Uyghurs, Tibetans, Taiwan political figures, labour and student activists and foreign media. China tightly controls organised religion and political dissent and has been accused by Western governments and rights groups of conducting surveillance and pressure campaigns against such groups.