Anthropic report points to Iran-backed Houthis using Claude to develop missiles

According to Anthropic's findings in the report, the Iran-aligned Houthis used Claude Code to try and develop software for several weapons programmes, including a guided rocket, a ballistic missile and a missile family with a hypersonic glide vehicle variant.

Iran-backed Houthi militants in Yemen may have used Claude, Anthropic’s AI chatbot, to develop software for guided missiles, a threat intelligence report published by the tech company indicates.

The 154-page report, published on Thursday, details how a Yemen-based group used Claude Code to work on guidance, navigation and control software for a guided rocket and other missile programmes. While Anthropic did not name the group involved, details in the report point to the Houthis, who have built a sizeable arsenal of missiles and drones.

Anthropic said these "threat actors" were also developing a ballistic missile with a stated range of more than 2,000 km and a missile variant featuring a hypersonic glide vehicle. The company said it did not have evidence that the actors successfully fielded an operational guided weapon, though they did test-fire a guided rocket that apparently failed.

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