{"slug": "u-s-nearly-started-another-war-after-military-used-ai-to-write-report", "title": "U.S. Nearly Started Another War After Military Used AI to Write Report", "summary": "A U.S. military intelligence report produced with the help of an AI chatbot falsely identified a Chinese ship as carrying nuclear weapons materials, prompting an interception operation in the Middle East that was called off only after officials realized the threat was AI-generated, CNN reported Friday. One source told CNN the report was \"entirely false\" and had \"almost started a war.\" The incident comes as the Trump administration expands military AI use, including a $200 million Google contract awarded in July 2025, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's GenAi.Mil platform, a January 2026 \"AI Acceleration Strategy,\" and Hegseth's promise that the U.S. military is using \"every tool of AI\" in the war against Iran.", "body_md": "A wildly inaccurate U.S. military intelligence report produced with artificial intelligence almost started World War III, [CNN](https://www.cnn.com/2026/09/18/politics/us-military-ai-false-intelligence-china-ship) reported Friday. \n\nIn the spring, U.S. military officials launched an operation to intercept a Chinese ship they believed was transporting nuclear weapons materials in the Middle East. Service members prepared to board ships, and military aircraft were already in the air, multiple sources told CNN.\n\nThat’s when officials realized that the threat wasn’t real. It was AI-generated.\n\nThe claim had stemmed from a report that was produced with the help of a chatbot, but the AI program had inaccurately identified the materials the ship was carrying. CNN was unable to identify what the ship was actually carrying. It was not clear whether the chatbot was commercially available or the government’s own knock-off version.\n\nOne of the sources told CNN that the report was “entirely false” and had “almost started a war.”\n\nThe Trump administration has been [eager to embrace](https://newrepublic.com/article/196763/ai-industry-trump-defense-department) the AI industry—a risky bet considering the technology’s tendencies to [hallucinate](https://www.ibm.com/think/topics/ai-hallucinations) answers to queries.\n\nIn July 2025, the government [awarded](https://cloud.google.com/blog/topics/public-sector/google-public-sector-awarded-200-million-contract-to-accelerate-ai-and-cloud-capabilities-across-department-of-defenses-chief-digital-and-artificial-intelligence-office-cdao) Google a massive $200 million contract to support AI solutions at the Defense Department. Six months later, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth [rolled out](https://newrepublic.com/post/204181/pete-hegseth-ai-artificial-intelligence-tool-american-warrior) GenAi.Mil, the new “American-made” AI platform that will allow military members to “conduct deep research, format documents, and even analyze video or imagery at unprecedented speed”—and all without using their brains. It’s not clear whether this is the tool that falsely identified materials to make nuclear weapons. \n\nIn January 2026, Hegseth doubled down on the technology with an “[AI Acceleration Strategy](https://www.war.gov/News/Releases/Release/Article/4376420/war-department-launches-ai-acceleration-strategy-to-secure-american-military-ai/)” at the DOD. A few months later, he [promised](https://newrepublic.com/post/207736/pete-hegesth-ai-iran-war) that the U.S. military was using “every tool of AI” in the war against Iran.", "url": "https://wpnews.pro/news/u-s-nearly-started-another-war-after-military-used-ai-to-write-report", "canonical_source": "https://newrepublic.com/post/215610/united-states-nearly-started-war-china-military-ai-write-report", "published_at": "2026-09-18 18:23:09+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-09-18 19:55:11.680929+00:00", "lang": "en", "topics": ["artificial-intelligence", "ai-safety", "ai-policy", "generative-ai"], "entities": ["CNN", "U.S. military", "Google", "Pete Hegseth", "GenAi.Mil", "Defense Department", "Trump administration", "China"], "alternates": {"html": "https://wpnews.pro/news/u-s-nearly-started-another-war-after-military-used-ai-to-write-report", "markdown": "https://wpnews.pro/news/u-s-nearly-started-another-war-after-military-used-ai-to-write-report.md", "text": "https://wpnews.pro/news/u-s-nearly-started-another-war-after-military-used-ai-to-write-report.txt", "jsonld": "https://wpnews.pro/news/u-s-nearly-started-another-war-after-military-used-ai-to-write-report.jsonld"}}