A US intelligence report produced by AI with false information nearly led to a confrontation between Washington and Beijing after it mistakenly surmised that a Chinese ship was carrying nuclear components to Iran during the Middle East war, CNN reported over the weekend, citing sources familiar with the episode.

The US military prepared to seize the vessel, and warplanes were in the air, CNN said, before officials examined the report more carefully and realized it was written with the help of a chatbot that misidentified the cargo. CNN said it was unable to ascertain what the actual cargo was.

CNN quoted one source as saying the intelligence report was “entirely false” but “almost started a war.”

According to the network, a US military analyst had queried the chatbot about intelligence from the Hawaii-based US Special Operations Command Pacific about the ship, and the chatbot based its faulty response on both open-source and secret signals intelligence.

It was unclear whether the bot was a commercial or government product, CNN says, adding that neither the Pentagon nor Special Operations Command Pacific responded to a request for comment.

US Central Command — which is responsible for American forces in the Middle East — did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the reported........

© The Times of Israel