{
  "id": 6627066,
  "title": "Anthropic says its models were misused for biological weapons research, surveillance and cyber attacks",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/10/anthropic-says-its-models-were-misused-for-biological-weapons-6627066",
  "topic": "ai",
  "section": "AI",
  "published": "2026-09-10T18:51:34.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "The National Business",
    "slug": "the-national-business",
    "url": "https://www.thenationalnews.com/future/technology/2026/09/10/anthropic-ai-biological-weapons/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Anthropic published a report on Thursday, detailing instances where individuals misused the company's AI models for potentially harmful purposes. The report reveals that such misuse included attempts to develop biological weapons, carry out cyber attacks, influence operations and surveillance through the use of Claude, one of Anthropic's AI models.\n\nThe report highlights a case where a prompt was entered into Claude, requesting assistance for a grant application to research the chikungunya virus. Chikungunya is a mosquito-borne virus that can cause severe pain and fever lasting for weeks or months, with no licensed therapeutic currently available. The report suggests that the institutional affiliation linked to the grant application raised concerns regarding the legitimacy of the research.\n\nAnthropic claims to have found and stopped all the operations outlined in the report. The company stated that it has implemented several internal checks to address potentially problematic prompts and is actively enhancing these procedures. They also mentioned banning accounts associated with the suspicious activity and are working on new measures to detect and prevent misuse of their services.\n\nAnthropic's findings also highlight the challenge of balancing protection with the beneficial use of AI for scientific research. The company acknowledges AI's potential to revolutionize biological science and expedite the creation of new medical treatments. However, the increasing public concern over AI's potential risks has led to legislative discussions in the US Congress, with bills proposed to limit or halt AI research. Despite the lack of passing these bills into law, the debate surrounding AI's impact on economy, privacy, democracy, and the well-being of children continues.",
  "summary": "A report from Anthropic released on Thursday details several incidents in which people used the company's AI models \"in ways that could support biological weapons development\", among other things. The company's decision to release the report comes after several high-profile incidents related to AI models led to concern about whether they were becoming too powerful and a risk to public safety .…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 12,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "Arabian Post",
        "title": "Anthropic details fourth Claude unauthorised access incident",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/10/anthropic-details-fourth-claude-unauthorised-access-incident",
        "published": "2026-09-10T11:50:29.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "Techmeme",
        "title": "Anthropic publishes a threat intelligence report on how it disrupted efforts to misuse Claude for cyberattacks, influence operations, surveillance, and more (Anthropic)",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/10/anthropic-publishes-a-threat-intelligence-report-on-how-it-disrupted",
        "published": "2026-09-10T17:21:15.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "Techmeme",
        "title": "Anthropic details distillation efforts by Chinese companies, like Moonshot and DeepSeek, sending user queries to Claude via \"transfer stations\" outside China (Wall Street Journal)",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/10/anthropic-details-distillation-efforts-by-chinese-companies-like",
        "published": "2026-09-10T17:36:03.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "Quartz",
        "title": "Anthropic warns of efforts to use its AI to build biological weapons",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/10/anthropic-warns-of-efforts-to-use-its-ai-to-build-biological-weapons",
        "published": "2026-09-10T18:20:41.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "Tom's Guide",
        "title": "Anthropic says it blocked researchers using Claude for possible bioweapon research",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/10/anthropic-says-it-blocked-researchers-using-claude-for-possible",
        "published": "2026-09-10T18:33:39.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "The National UAE",
        "title": "Anthropic says its models were misused for biological weapons research, surveillance and cyber attacks",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/10/anthropic-says-its-models-were-misused-for-biological-weapons",
        "published": "2026-09-10T18:51:34.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "The New Stack",
        "title": "“Valuable warning shots”: How Anthropic now views Claude’s cyber incidents",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/10/valuable-warning-shots-how-anthropic-now-views-claudes-cyber-incidents",
        "published": "2026-09-10T19:54:35.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "Investing.com",
        "title": "Anthropic disrupts Russian, Chinese AI campaigns targeting its Claude models",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/10/anthropic-disrupts-russian-chinese-ai-campaigns-targeting-its-claude",
        "published": "2026-09-10T21:07:18.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "South China Morning Post",
        "title": "Moonshot, DeepSeek secretly routed user requests to Claude, Anthropic claims",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/10/moonshot-deepseek-secretly-routed-user-requests-to-claude-anthropic",
        "published": "2026-09-10T23:23:18.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "Channel News Asia",
        "title": "Anthropic disrupts Russian, Chinese AI campaigns targeting its Claude models",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/10/anthropic-disrupts-russian-chinese-ai-campaigns-targeting-its-claude-6661022",
        "published": "2026-09-10T23:26:36.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "The Business Times - Companies & Markets",
        "title": "Anthropic disrupts Russian, Chinese AI campaigns targeting its Claude models",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/10/anthropic-disrupts-russian-chinese-ai-campaigns-targeting-its-claude-6665523",
        "published": "2026-09-10T23:57:22.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}