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A serious error involving the US military’s use of an artificial intelligence chatbot brought China and the United States close to an armed confrontation in spring 2026, amid the ongoing US-Iran war.
The Operative Information Center-OMM reports that CNN cited reliable sources familiar with the matter.
According to the report, an analyst at the US Pacific Special Operations Command in Hawaii used an AI tool while analyzing open-source information and classified signals intelligence. As a result of a structural “hallucination” — the generation of fabricated information by an AI system — the analyst wrongly concluded that a Chinese-flagged vessel sailing in the Middle East was allegedly carrying components for nuclear weapons. The information was submitted to senior commanders as an official intelligence report without being independently rechecked by a human.
US fighter jets were subsequently launched, while special forces prepared to board the Chinese vessel. Minutes before the operation was due to begin, officials discovered that the facts in the document were completely baseless, preventing the crisis from escalating.
Experts say the lack of a unified security protocol at the Defense Department requiring all AI-generated information to undergo mandatory human verification poses a serious risk. The incident has again raised questions about the management of military technologies ahead of a Sept. 24 summit between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping at the White House.
