Houthis used Anthropic AI to develop ballistic missile software, says report

A Yemen-based threat actor cell has tried to use Anthropic’s Claude AI model to create guidance, navigation, and control software for ballistic missiles, a US artificial intelligence company’s intelligence threat report said.

The Financial Times said Anthropic didn’t name the group but described a cell operating from northern Yemen, most of which is controlled by the Houthi movement, that was running three weapons development programmes.

The cell was trying to build a multi-stage ballistic missile, a multi-variant missile and a guided rocket using a phone-class flight computer, Anthropic said.

Anthropic said its safeguards prevented “many of their requests, but not all of them” as the actors tried to circumvent protections by hiding their goals and splitting their work across multiple sessions.

The report comes as the Houthis have rapidly expanded their military presence along Yemen's Red Sea coast and moved toward the strategic Bab al-Mandeb Strait.