America used the tools of the same AI company, Anthropic, in the airstrike on Iran, which President Donald Trump had placed a government ban on. People familiar with the matter confirmed this in a report by the American media house The Wall Street Journal. Commands around the world, including the US Central Command (CENTCOM) in the Middle East, use Anthropic’s ‘Claude’ AI tool. However, CENTCOM declined to comment on the systems being used in the ongoing operation against Iran. Claude AI used for target identification Experts say that despite the ban, the command is using this tool for intelligence assessment, target identification, and understanding war situations (simulation). This shows how deeply these AI tools have become involved in military operations. Defense department declared company a security threat For months, there has been a dispute between the government and Anthropic regarding the use of AI models in the Pentagon. Trump had ordered government agencies to stop working with the company on Friday, and the Department of Defense had called it a security threat and a risk to its supply chain. Read also: Battle of the AI chatbots in US Company said – Taking lives with AI is wrong The dispute escalated when Anthropic did not allow the US Department of Defense to use its tools ‘without any conditions’. Because of this, its contract was canceled. The Department of Defense wanted to be able to use this tool in ‘all legal situations’ once the contract was in place. This includes everything from gathering intelligence to determining attack targets. In other words, the military wanted to use AI as a ‘weapon’. But Anthropic emphasizes ‘safe AI’. It tried to include a condition in its contract that its AI tool should not be used for deadly military operations or directly for taking lives in war. Musk’s xAI and OpenAI Agreement The Trump administration has stated that it will take at least 6 months to completely remove this technology from the military. This process is quite complex because partners like data-mining firm Palantir also process military data using the same technology. As an alternative, the Pentagon has now entered into agreements with Elon Musk’s company xAI and OpenAI to work in classified settings. Claude was also used in Venezuela Operation Claude AI has also been used in major military operations, such as capturing Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. This was the first time AI was used in such a large and covert operation. This information came to light in a report by ‘The Wall Street Journal’. Read also: US used AI tool ‘Claude’ to capture Venezuela’s Maduro What is Anthropic’s ‘Claude’ AI? Claude is an advanced AI chatbot, proficient in tasks like text generation, data analysis, and coding. It was started in 2021 by former OpenAI executives. Recently, after a funding round, Anthropic’s valuation has reached $380 billion, or approximately 34 lakh crore rupees. Knowledge Part: How does AI help in war? In military operations, AI is primarily used for these tasks:
