The report was false, but “it almost started a war”, one source told CNN.
There are fears that the incident could have escalated dramatically.
At the start of September the US Department of War announced it was using versions of Elon Musk’s Grok AI and ChatGPT alongside Google’s Gemini.
At the time US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said: “With this launch, we are taking a giant step toward mass AI adoption across the department.”
He pledged to speed up the use of AI across the military in a speech in January. Underpinning the move was the belief that AI could “strengthen decision making” and swiftly convert intelligence data.
In August the Carnegie Endowment said that the use of AI by the military “marks the beginning of a new era, where every member of our workforce can be more efficient and impactful”.
While endorsing the use of AI, it also sounded a note of caution, adding: “Gutting the Pentagon’s testing capacity, eliminating critical vetting steps in the acquisitions process, or carelessly offloading lethal decisions to autonomous systems could discourage adoption, endanger soldiers’ lives, and lower the threshold for conflict.”
In recent weeks politicians in Washington have been warned by Silicon Valley experts that AI could spiral out of control.
Earlier this week in the UK dozens of Royal Society fellows highlighted the dangers of “super intelligent AI”.
Earlier this month Jacob Coxon, one of the architects of advanced AI, resigned from Anthropic, fearing the system could put humanity at risk.
A Department of War official said: “On any given day, the US military monitors, assesses, and analyses hundreds of potential threats around the world to ensure the defence of our nation and our allies.
“Out of operational security and as a matter of policy, we do not comment on specific intelligence reports, alleged operational planning, or ongoing military assessments.
“The Department of War remains committed to the rigorous verification of all intelligence inputs and the responsible integration of emerging technologies to support our service members in making informed, precise, and safe decisions in any operational environment.”
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