The U.S. military reportedly used Anthropic’s AI model Claude in the classified operation to capture former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, according to a Wall Street Journal report citing sources familiar with the matter.
| Photo Credit:
Dado Ruvic
Anthropic’s artificial-intelligence model Claude was used in
the U.S. military’s operation to capture former Venezuelan
President Nicolas Maduro, the Wall Street Journal reported on
Friday, citing people familiar with the matter.
Claude’s deployment came via Anthropic’s partnership with
data firm Palantir Technologies, whose platforms are
widely used by the Defence Department and federal law
enforcement, the report added.
Reuters could not immediately verify the report. The U.S.
Defence Department, the White House, Anthropic and Palantir did
not immediately respond to Reuters’ requests for comment.
The Pentagon is pushing top AI companies, including
OpenAI and Anthropic, to make their artificial-intelligence
tools available on classified networks without many of the
standard restrictions that the firms apply to users, Reuters
exclusively reported on Wednesday.
Many AI companies are building custom tools for the U.S.
military, most of which are available only on unclassified
networks typically used for military administration. Anthropic
is the only one that is available in classified settings through
third parties, but the government is still bound by the
company’s usage policies.
The usage policies of Anthropic, which raised $30
billion in its latest funding round and is now valued at $380 billion, forbid using Claude to support violence, design weapons or
carry out surveillance.
The United States captured President Nicolas Maduro in an audacious raid and whisked
him to New York to face drug-trafficking charges early in
January.
Published on February 14, 2026
