Iran Using AI to Target US Forces

While the debate over the future of artificial intelligence, or AI, rages in public policy circles, America’s enemies are using the technology to attack American military forces. An AI development company released a report in September identifying several adversaries that use artificial intelligence to threaten America’s armed forces and US national security. These dangers come as US policymakers debate the level of regulation needed to safeguard citizens and, more importantly, to protect US military members and their operations. 

AI Advancing and Outpacing Regulations

In an excellent rundown of the dilemma — “Trump Dismisses Calls for AI Slowdown” — Liberty Nation News author Elizabeth Lawrence observed, “Artificial intelligence is advancing at such a rapid pace that even some of the tech leaders behind its creation are calling for the industry to slow down before the technology gets out of control.” One dangerous aspect is how adversaries use AI against US armed forces. As the September 2026 Anthropic threat-intelligence report explained: 

“We identified and disrupted an Iran-nexus threat actor that used Claude [an AI program] to collect and analyze publicly accessible data to develop targeting recommendations against US naval forces in the region. The threat actor used Claude to compile targeting handbooks through a Python [a high-level, general-purpose programming language] pipeline the threat actor built with Claude’s assistance, to identify and track naval positions based on open-source information.”

To demonstrate how insidiously dangerous this technology in an adversary’s hands can be, an Iran-linked actor using AI was able to gather and archive information on US military personnel by accumulating and analyzing information from captions “on public military photographs; publicly accessible ship and aircraft transponder identifiers; commercial satellite-imagery query scripts; and an inventory of public websites that exposed US naval movements,” Anthropic reported. 

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Not recognizing or taking specific actions to thwart Iran and its persistent attacks on US military bases in the Gulf region has consequences. According to a report by the Pentagon's inspector general (IG), the damage wrought by Iranian attacks on US military bases has been extensive. Defense News wrote, “The tally of destroyed aircraft includes four F-15Es, one A-10, four AH-6 helicopters, one AH-64 and one MH-60, as well as an MQ-4C drone and as many as 30 MQ-9 Reapers.” In addition, the IG assessment explained, “US Central Command told IG investigators that ‘Iranian strikes damaged and destroyed hundreds of buildings and structures at US bases in Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Oman, and Jordan during the conflict.’” Though there is no direct evidence that Iran used AI models to penetrate defenses at the US military bases in the Gulf region, it is conceivable.

It’s not just Iran that poses a hazard. Unsophisticated actors can be a real threat using AI capabilities. Just the News explained, “In northern Yemen, a region controlled by the terrorist group Ansar Allah, or more commonly known as the Houthis, Anthropic identified ‘a cell of threat actors’ using Claude to develop three new missiles with advanced capabilities.” The Houthis have demonstrated no reluctance to attack shipping in the Red Sea, and with the aid of AI to achieve greater accuracy for their anti-ship missiles and drones, they have become even more lethal. 

National Security Is Challenged

The challenge to US national security is undeniable. Policymakers and pundits who rail against the emergence of more capable AI and seek to rein in or halt it cede the AI development high ground to malign actors wishing the United States harm. As The Wall Street Journal observed, the information revealed in the Anthropic report as well as the cautions voiced by other AI developers “come amid a nationwide debate on whether policymakers fully grasp the threats and changes that AI poses to national security in the coming decades.” 

The United States must use the utmost discretion in how far it regulates this technology while being especially careful not to disadvantage national security. To be sure, America’s enemies have no reluctance to exploit artificial intelligence for their own malevolent purposes. Consequently, the United States might want to take full advantage of staying ahead in the race to achieve AI’s national security benefits, without losing control. According to Anthropic, “As models become increasingly capable, their risks will increase, unless AI developers and society’s defenders act to make them safer.”

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The views expressed are those of the author and not of any other affiliate.