{"id":94318,"date":"2026-02-16T12:44:14","date_gmt":"2026-02-16T09:44:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/?p=94318"},"modified":"2026-02-16T12:46:16","modified_gmt":"2026-02-16T09:46:16","slug":"wsj-u-s-military-used-claude-in-raid-to-capture-maduro","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wsj-u-s-military-used-claude-in-raid-to-capture-maduro\/","title":{"rendered":"WSJ: U.S. military used Claude in raid to capture Maduro"},"content":{"rendered":"

The U.S. Army deployed Anthropic\u2019s Claude in an operation to capture Venezuela\u2019s president, Nicol\u00e1s Maduro, the WSJ<\/a> reports, citing sources.<\/p>\n

The mission included bombing several targets in Caracas.<\/p>\n

Such use runs counter to Anthropic\u2019s public policy. The company\u2019s rules explicitly forbid employing AI for violence, weapons development or surveillance.<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cWe cannot comment on whether Claude or any other model was used in a specific operation\u2014classified or otherwise. Any application of a LLM<\/span>\u2014whether in the private sector or government\u2014must comply with our policy governing how the system is deployed. We work closely with partners to ensure adherence,\u201d a representative of Anthropic said.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Claude\u2019s deployment within the Defense Department was enabled by Anthropic\u2019s partnership with Palantir Technologies. The latter\u2019s software is widely used by the military and federal law-enforcement agencies.<\/p>\n

After the raid, an Anthropic employee asked a Palantir colleague what role the model played in the operation to capture Maduro, the WSJ writes. A spokesperson for the startup said the company had not discussed using its models in specific missions \u201cwith any partners, including Palantir,\u201d limiting conversations to technical matters.<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cAnthropic is committed to using advanced AI in support of U.S. national security,\u201d the representative added.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Anthropic versus the Pentagon?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said the department is reassessing its relationship with the AI lab.<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cOur country needs partners willing to help warfighters win any war,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

In July 2025, the U.S. Department of Defense signed<\/a> contracts worth up to $200m with Anthropic, Google, OpenAI and xAI to develop AI solutions in security. The department\u2019s Chief Digital and AI Office planned to use their work to build agentic security systems.<\/p>\n

But by January 2026 the WSJ reported<\/a> the deal with Anthropic was at risk of being terminated. The rift stemmed from the startup\u2019s strict ethics policy. The rules prohibit using Claude for mass surveillance and autonomous lethal operations, limiting its utility for agencies such as ICE<\/span> and the FBI<\/span>.<\/p>\n

Officials\u2019 frustration deepened amid the integration<\/a> of the Grok chatbot into the Pentagon\u2019s network. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, commenting on the xAI partnership, stressed the department \u201cwill not use models that do not allow wars to be waged.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pressure on developers<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Axios, citing sources, wrote<\/a> that the Pentagon is pressuring four major AI companies to let the U.S. military use their technologies for \u201call lawful purposes.\u201d That includes weapons development, intelligence collection and combat operations.<\/p>\n

Anthropic refuses to lift restrictions on surveillance of U.S. citizens and on fully autonomous weaponry. Talks have stalled, yet quickly replacing Claude is difficult given the model\u2019s technological edge in specialised government tasks.<\/p>\n

Beyond Anthropic\u2019s chatbot, the Pentagon uses OpenAI\u2019s ChatGPT, Google\u2019s Gemini and xAI\u2019s Grok for unclassified work. All three agreed to relax the restrictions that apply to ordinary users.<\/p>\n

Discussions now centre on moving LLMs into classified environments and using them \u201cfor all lawful purposes.\u201d One of the three companies has already agreed to do so; the other two are \u201cshowing more flexibility\u201d than Anthropic.<\/p>\n

The militarisation of AI<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The U.S. is not the only country rapidly embedding artificial intelligence in defence.<\/p>\n

China<\/h3>\n

In June 2024, China unveiled<\/a> an AI commander for large-scale military simulations involving all branches of the PLA<\/span>. The virtual strategist wields broad authority, learns quickly and refines tactics during digital exercises.<\/p>\n

In November, media reported<\/a> that Chinese researchers had adapted Meta\u2019s Llama 13B to create a tool called ChatBIT. The model was optimised for gathering and analysing intelligence, and for supporting operational decision-making.<\/p>\n

India<\/h3>\n

New Delhi has also bet<\/a> on AI as a driver of national security. The government has crafted national strategies and programmes, created dedicated institutions and bodies for deployment, and launched projects applying the technology across sectors.<\/p>\n

United Kingdom<\/h3>\n

London has made artificial intelligence a priority. In the Defence AI Strategy (2022) the ministry treats<\/a> AI as a key component of the armed forces of the future. In the Strategic Defence Review (2025) the technology is described as a fundamental element of modern war.<\/p>\n

Where AI was once viewed as an auxiliary tool, the British armed forces now plan a shift to \u201ctechnology-integrated forces\u201d, with AI systems used at every level\u2014from staff analytics to the battlefield.<\/p>\n

In March 2025, the Pentagon announced<\/a> the use of AI agents to simulate clashes with foreign adversaries.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The U.S. Army used Anthropic\u2019s Claude in an operation to capture Venezuela\u2019s president, Nicol\u00e1s Maduro.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":94319,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"select":"1","news_style_id":"1","cryptorium_level":"","_short_excerpt_text":"WSJ: U.S. military used Anthropic\u2019s Claude in a raid to capture Nicol\u00e1s Maduro.","creation_source":"","_metatest_mainpost_news_update":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[438,26,1240],"class_list":["post-94318","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-and-analysis","tag-artificial-intelligence","tag-usa","tag-venezuela-cryptocurrency-market"],"aioseo_notices":[],"amp_enabled":true,"views":"276","promo_type":"1","layout_type":"1","short_excerpt":"WSJ: U.S. military used Anthropic\u2019s Claude in a raid to capture Nicol\u00e1s Maduro.","is_update":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94318","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=94318"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94318\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":94320,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94318\/revisions\/94320"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/94319"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=94318"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=94318"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=94318"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}