Anthropic says Yemen fighters used AI to seek guided weapons
Anthropic revealed that a threat actor in Yemen used its Claude AI chatbot to assist in developing guided rockets and missiles. The company has since banned the accounts involved, noting that the actors failed to successfully field an operational weapon.
Why it matters
This incident highlights the dual-use risks of generative AI and the challenges companies face in preventing misuse by bad actors.
A group in Yemen attempted to use Anthropic's Claude chatbot to build guided rockets and missiles, the U.S. firm has revealed, as Iran-backed Houthi rebels are on the offensive in the country.
In a report published Thursday (September 10, 2026) on how it had prevented illegal uses of Claude in several countries, Anthropic said it had "identified a cell of threat actors based in northern Yemen running three weapons development programs".
Those were "a guided rocket that used a commodity phone-class flight computer with final-phase homing guidance; a multi-stage ballistic missile with a stated range goal above 2,000 kilometres (1,250 miles); and a multi-variant missile... that included a hypersonic glide vehicle variant".
The cell used Claude to develop guidance, navigation and control software for the airborne weapons that would have otherwise required a team of engineers.
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