Yemeni Cell Tried to Use Anthropic's Claude AI to Develop Weapons

A cell of Yemeni “malicious actors” used Claude, Anthropic's artificial intelligence (AI), to try to develop remote-controlled weapons, the American company announced Thursday, September 11, at a time when the Houthi rebels are leading a major offensive in Yemen.

“We identified a malicious actor cell based in northern Yemen that was conducting three weapons development programs,” Anthropic said in a report that explains how the startup stopped illegal operations from several countries.

These programs concerned “a guided rocket using a smartphone-type flight computer with autoguidance,” a ballistic missile with a target range of more than 2,000 km, and a missile with a “hypersonic glider type,” according to the report. The cell used Claude to replace a team of engineers specializing in the creation of software for guidance, navigation and control of flying weapons.

The Houthis are the main suspects

“We do not have any evidence indicating that they succeeded in deploying an operational device,” Anthropic stressed while specifying that these actors had carried out a test firing of a guided rocket which had failed. The American start-up claims to have banned the associated accounts as soon as it identified these illegal activities and to have shared its information with public and private partners to “reduce the risks posed by these individuals”.

While Anthropic did not name the actors in question, it is likely that they are the pro-Iranian Houthi rebels who control a large part of northern Yemen, including the capital Sanaa. This information comes as the Houthis are leading an offensive in the country, advancing towards the strategic Bab el-Mandeb Strait, linking Europe to Asia.

After years of calm, Yemen plunged back into war in July, drawn into the regional conflict triggered at the end of February by the American-Israeli offensive against Iran. The Houthis also launched a large attack this week against Saudi Arabia, notably firing several ballistic missiles and drones towards cities in the south of the neighboring country on Wednesday.