In a startling revelation, a report has claimed that Claude, the AI model developed by Anthropic, was utilized by the US military during its operation to kidnap Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores. The mission, which involved bombing several sites across Caracas last month, reportedly marked the first known instance of an AI developer being employed in a classified operation by the US Department of Defense, highlighting the growing integration of AI models within the Pentagon.
According to a Wall Street Journal report citing anonymous sources, Claude was accessed through Anthropic’s partnership with Palantir Technologies, a key contractor for the US Defense Department and federal law enforcement agencies. Anthropic’s terms of use explicitly prohibit the use of Claude for violent ends, the development of weapons, or conducting surveillance. It remains unclear how the tool—capable of tasks ranging from processing PDFs to piloting autonomous drones—was specifically deployed in the operation.
The broader context underscores the increasing reliance of militaries worldwide on AI technologies. The US has employed AI for targeting in strikes in Iraq and Syria in recent years, while Israel has deployed drones with autonomous capabilities in Gaza and extensively used AI to populate its targeting database there.
US Delta Force teams carried out the shocking overnight strikes on January 3, targeting multiple locations in Caracas, including Venezuela's massive Fuerte Tiuna military complex. The raid resulted in the capture of long-ruling President Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, amid widespread bombing across the capital that left 83 people dead, according to Venezuela's defense ministry.
The operation has been described as Washington's boldest intervention in Latin America since the 1989 Panama invasion. Witness accounts have further fueled speculation, alleging that American forces deployed an "advanced, mysterious weapon" during the raid.
One particularly vivid account, posted on X by the White House press secretary, described Venezuelan soldiers being brought to their knees by the mystery weapon, with symptoms including "bleeding through the nose" and "vomiting blood." These details have intensified questions about the tactics employed and the potential role of cutting-edge technologies like AI in modern warfare.
