AI error could have triggered a US-China war:Chatbot falsely reported nuclear equipment on Chinese ship; US military was ready to attack

The United States came close to war with China because of a mistake by an artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot. During the Iran war, the US military received an intelligence report claiming that a Chinese ship in the Middle East was carrying equipment linked to a nuclear weapons programme. Taking the report to be accurate, the US military began preparing to intercept and seize the Chinese ship. Armed soldiers were ready to board the vessel, while US military aircraft had also been sent into the air. AI error detected just before operation According to a CNN report, US officials rechecked the intelligence report just before launching the operation. It was then discovered that an AI chatbot had been used to prepare the report and that the chatbot had misidentified the equipment on the ship. In fact, an officer from the US military’s Special Operations Command entered information about the Chinese ship’s cargo into an AI chatbot. The chatbot combined information obtained from different sources and reached the wrong conclusion. It reported that the ship was carrying equipment linked to the production of nuclear weapons. Intelligence report prepared using information from AI The information provided by the AI was written into an intelligence report. The report reached US military officials. Based on the report, the officials began preparing to take action against the Chinese ship. A US official familiar with the matter described the report as completely wrong and said the error had nearly triggered a war. It is not yet known which AI the US officer used. According to CNN, it could have been an ordinary chatbot or the US government’s own AI tool. It is also unclear what the Chinese ship was actually carrying. Use of AI is rising rapidly in the US military The matter has come to light at a time when the use of AI in the US military is growing rapidly. The military is using AI to analyse intelligence, select targets, and deploy weapons and troops. The US believes that AI can help it make decisions more quickly during war. At the same time, it fears that it could suffer losses if China overtakes it in military AI. For this reason, Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth launched a plan in January to rapidly expand use of AI. Under the plan, preparations are underway to provide AI tools to around 30 lakh military and civilian employees.