US military reportedly used Claude AI in Venezuela operation targeting Maduro
The Wall Street Journal reportedly revealed that the US military used Anthropic's Claude AI model during an operation in Venezuela targeting Nicolás Maduro, with the raid resulting in 83 deaths. Anthropic declined to confirm the report but stated any use of Claude would comply with its policies prohibiting use for violent purposes and weapons development.
What happened
According to the Wall Street Journal, Claude was used by the US military during an operation to capture Nicolás Maduro from Venezuela. The raid involved bombing across Caracas and resulted in 83 deaths according to Venezuela's defence ministry.
The Wall Street Journal cited anonymous sources saying Claude was used through Anthropic's partnership with Palantir Technologies, a contractor with the US Department of Defense. Anthropic declined to comment on whether Claude was used but said any use would be required to comply with its usage policies.
Reported impact
The US raid on Venezuela involved bombing across the capital, Caracas, and the killing of 83 people, according to Venezuela's defence ministry.
Index analysis
Anthropic's terms of use prohibit the use of Claude for violent ends, for the development of weapons or for conducting surveillance. It was unclear how the tool, which has capabilities ranging from processing PDFs to piloting autonomous drones, was deployed in the operation.
Critics have warned against the use of AI in weapons technologies and the deployment of autonomous weapons systems, pointing to targeting mistakes created by computers governing who should and should not be killed.
Governance controls
A spokesperson for Anthropic said any use of the AI tool was required to comply with its usage policies. Anthropic's CEO Dario Amodei has called for regulation to prevent harms from the deployment of AI and expressed wariness over the use of AI in autonomous lethal operations.
Classification
Sources and evidence
This record was researched and written by the Index, based on the following original reporting.