Users in Houthi-held Yemen tried to develop advanced weapons with AI, Anthropic says
Anthropic said it blocked the accounts after finding the users split work across sessions and failed to field an operational weapon, despite a guided-rocket test.
- On Thursday, September 10, 2026, Anthropic published a threat intelligence report identifying a northern Yemen-based cell using Claude AI to develop software for three weapons programs, including guided rockets and ballistic missiles.
- The actors utilized Claude 'in place of human software engineers' to create guidance, navigation, and control systems for weapons, including a ballistic missile designed to exceed 2,000 kilometres and a hypersonic glide vehicle variant.
- After a field test failed, operators returned to Claude within hours to troubleshoot the error, demonstrating how the AI served as an iterative engineering partner shortening the development cycle.
- Anthropic banned the implicated accounts and shared findings with partners, reporting no evidence the group succeeded in 'fielding an operational device' despite their development efforts.
- This Yemen-focused case is part of a wider September 2026 report documenting six conventional-weapons investigations, including Chinese and Russian actors developing autonomous drone swarms and anti-torpedo systems.
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The Houthis are said to have used the AI model Claude to try to develop ballistic missiles. This comes at a time when both Anthropic and Open AI are warning about AI development.
Yemen Group Used Claude AI In Missile Projects, Anthropic Says
Could AI really help build a missile? Anthropic says a group in Yemen tried to do exactly that. It used its Claude chatbot to develop software for guided rockets and missiles. In a report, the US AI company said it uncovered a threat cell in northern Yemen working on three weapons programmes. These included a… Continue reading Yemen Group Used Claude AI In Missile Projects, Anthropic Says
The Huthis threaten international shipping and global energy supply. In order to improve missiles, the Group apparently used Anthropic-KI. The Group says that it "blocked many requests, but not all".
Anthropic does not reveal the identity of the cell but it is likely that it is these pro-Iranian insurgents who control much of northern Yemen, including the capital, Sana'a. "We have identified a malicious actor cell based in northern Yemen that carried out three weapons development programs," Anthropic said in a report explaining how it stopped illegal operations from several countries. These programs included "a guided rocket using a smartpho…
AI users in Houthi-held Yemen tried to make advanced weapons using Claude
Anthropic says Claude users in northern Yemen, territory controlled by Iran-backed Houthi rebels, tried to use the AI model to develop advanced missiles....Keep on reading: AI users in Houthi-held Yemen tried to make advanced weapons using Claude
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