US used Anthropic's Claude during the Venezuela raid, WSJ reports

February 13, 2026 6:41 PM EST

FILE PHOTO: Anthropic logo is seen in this illustration taken May 20, 2024. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo

Feb 13 (Reuters) - 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 Defense Department and federal law enforcement, the report added.

Reuters could not immediately verify the report. The ​U.S. Defense 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.

(Reporting by Carlos Méndez and Juby Babu in Mexico City; Editing by Chris Reese and Alan ‌Barona)



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