AI Almost Triggered a War Between the US and China

A U.S. military intelligence report circulated in spring, amid tensions with Iran, nearly sparked a conflict between the United States and China after falsely claiming a Chinese vessel in the Middle East was carrying nuclear weapons components.

According to four informed sources speaking to CNN, the U.S. military moved swiftly to prepare interception plans for the ship, with armed personnel even preparing to board it. Two of the sources, one having access to the earlier information, said that "military aircraft were already flying overhead".

Officials only discovered the truth just before launching the planned operation, after reviewing the report produced by an analyst from Special Operations Command, which turned out to have been generated with the help of artificial intelligence. The "chatbot" used by the analyst incorrectly identified the nature of the cargo carried by the ship. CNN was unable to determine what specific shipment had been misidentified.

One source described the report as "completely wrong," while also noting it "almost triggered a war," as any U.S. action against a Chinese vessel would have risked plunging the two nations into armed conflict.

A senior former U.S. official familiar with AI systems used by military analysts and intelligence agencies said: "Most internal tools are essentially modified versions of commercial software with superficial improvements."

Special Operations Command in the Pacific and the U.S. Department of Defense did not respond to CNN's request for comment.