‘Just ask Grok’: How ISIL is using Big Tech’s AI to build bombs

Evidence shared exclusively with Al Jazeera shows ISIL supporters sharing ways to bypass AI safeguards.

x whatsapp-stroke copylink google Add Al Jazeera on Google info Nigerian soldiers man a checkpoint in Gwoza, Nigeria, on April 8, 2015 [Lekan Oyekanmi/AP] By Caolán Magee Published On 18 Sep 2026 18 Sep 2026 Boko Haram fighters are using the artificial intelligence chatbots of Big Tech companies to help build more powerful bombs, plan attacks and solve problems during combat, according to research by the University of Cambridge.

Researchers interviewed 27 former members of Boko Haram’s two factions – the ISIL affiliate in West Africa Province (ISWAP) and Jama’at Ahl as-Sunnah lid-Da’wah wa’l-Jihad (JAS). A number of members described using Sam Altman-led OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Anthropic’s Claude, Google’s Gemini, Elon Musk’s Grok, Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta AI and China’s DeepSeek as a routine source of technical and military advice before, during and after attacks.