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.
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".
In a report published Thursday (September 10, 2026) on how it had
The cell used Claude to develop guidance, navigation and control software for the airborne weapons that would have otherwise required a team of engineers.
"This field test appears to have failed: within hours, the actors returned to Claude to work out why it failed. "
Anthropic said it had banned the relevant accounts as soon as it had detected the illegal activity.
While the company did not identify the actors in question, it is likely to involve the Houthis, who control much of northern Yemen, including the capital, Sanaa.
